write on

C. S. Lewis Makes Me Cry

2011-04-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

But not in a good way. R.

Bats and Stuff

2011-02-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

"Cowboy? You're no more a cowboy than you are a little leather-winged bat." -- Kaylee Felts from "The Mud Below" by Annie Proulx

I'm getting ready for some pretty heavy revision to my novel. I think the changes I'm going to make will be good ones. I'm also getting a feel for teaching, and I'm planning on graduating in April with my MA. That's my writing report for now. One day I'll have time for a real post. Surely.

Revising Aloud, Anyone?

2011-01-08T12:35:00.001-08:00

My recent posts reveal my secret identity as one who goes through their days helping others to write coherently. I can't help but get peeved when professionals publish the kind of things that I expect from my ESL and developmental English students. Like this snippet:

"The Giants also were able to shake off Kevin Boss' early fumble and kept the woebegone Seahawks from gaining any life from it." — From an article by Vinny DiTrani in The Record(Bergen County, NJ), November 9, 2010

I know weird things happen when we write. Isn't that why we revise? An out-loud reading of this demands, it seems to me, keep instead of kept. That's how I feel about it.

Why Determiners Matter II

2011-01-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

From msn.com:

Pope calls Egypt church attack vile gesture

Do I need to say anything about this one? Is msn.com letting volunteers write and title their articles? Is it really costing them a great deal too much to put the "a" where it belongs?

Why Determiners Matter

2010-12-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

I found this headline. It sounded like an interesting story, one that could provide fodder to my insatiable inner-author. It wasn't. A simple "a" could have saved me the trouble of reading the story. And writing this post, for that matter.

"Neighbors Save Elderly Man from Burning [Insert a City Name Here] Home."

The word "burning," in this case an adjective referring to something on fire, is easily mistaken for the verb "burning" that suggests the lighting of a fire. You can see why it almost looked interesting. Maybe they did it on purpose to lure in someone like me. However, I just read an article in the Washington Times that said many news companies are eliminating copy and type editors to cut costs. They justify it by saying that the tech generation doesn't use standard English anyways, so they're not going to care. What awesome logic.

I've digressed. "Neighbors Save Elderly Man from [a] Burning [Insert a City Name Here] Home." That would clear it up.

Old Grudge

2010-12-08T19:25:00.001-08:00

I try not to be prejudiced against John Dewey, even if separating kids out into groups of the same age and sticking them in an isolated room with an adult teacher was one of the dumbest ideas of all time with repercussions felt by every clique-loving socialite, outcast, and wannabe educator even to this very day. But when a composition scholar throws the name John Dewey out there and says that according to John we learn by action and reflection, it makes one wonder what the hell else is there?

P.S. I've been awake way too long working on papers to restrain myself. I promise that we can still be friends, even if you are a Deweyite.

My First Novel

2010-11-30T19:55:00.001-08:00

Today at exactly 4:10 pm, I finished my first novel. It felt good. It is technically only a novella right now at somewhere between 40-50k words. It is saved in chapters at the moment so I don't have a total word count. I've written over 40k since I started keeping track, and I can't recall how many chapters into it that was. Easy to look up, hard to muster the motivation to do it. I hope both of my readers are having success in their writing endeavors as well.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

This time of reflection leads me to mention some things I am grateful for. The top of the list includes my wife and children, my family, her family, our home, my job(s), being on the cusp of having a draft of the novel. I'm going to skip farther down the list and hit on some of the things that might not make it into our lists, but should. Even if it's at the bottom.

- Increasing my vocabulary through muzak. Just the other day I heard a new word (slizzered). Listening to pop radio can be so educational.

- The mystical power of four-wheel drive. You would think that if two wheels couldn't budge you on an icy hill that four would make it barely manageable. Yet with magical power, the four-wheel drive dissipates disaster in the most surreal way.

- Beanies. Because you can't go without them when you've got the head of hair that I do.

- Grilled Salmon Tacos.

Happy Thanksgiving.

"Who is Elijah?"

2010-10-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

I know that back in the day a person had to own a set of encyclopedias or go to the library to find information, but we live in the misinformation age. When I'm reading and I come across a word, be it a person, place, or thing, that I don't know, I look the damn thing up. Come on people. Learn to use a search engine.

R.

Fly Away Time

2010-10-04T20:24:00.001-07:00

It was inevitable that I would fall behind on my blog as I have on everything else. Here's an update.

We held my dad's memorial the first weekend in August. It was beautiful.

I'm too lazy to label all of these pictures, but as long as it doesn't get screwed up when I post it, my descriptions will at least be in order.

Our guides.
A shot of the San Juans.
Dad's view from his cairn.
Artsy pic of the landscape reflected in Riotimus's shades. Before you talk smack consider that it was done from the back of a moving horse.
That line of strata is called Table Mountain.
Bones of the earth.
Dad mounted up for his last ride.
The two amigos and one amiga (amigoas?) that made it possible.
Above the clouds. From where this picture was taken we kept going up and up and up well past the tree line.

Things have been going well in my writing tutor endeavors. I'm improving as a writer and as a teacher.

My fiction writing is going well. I just finished a complete rewrite of the flawed first chapter of the novel. I'm pretty pleased with it at the moment. Of course, I workshop it tomorrow, so Wednesday I might be singing a different song.

That's all I've got for now.

R.

Labor Day

2010-09-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Labor Day I thought I would post this quote by Tom Morello. Have a nice holiday. R.

"The problem is wage slavery. America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve." - Tom Morello, Guitar World, February 1997

Stratification

2010-08-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

So on a previous post Ing brought up the old classic Stratocaster. I happen to love my strat, even it it is hardly classic. I purchased this back in '99, towards the tail end of my massive music spending days. It was used and I didn't care anything much about it except that it looked cool and had humbuckers. It had a ding in the paint, but other than that it looked and played great. I ended up with an American Special strat with two humbuckers and a Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo.

I paid about a third what the guitar would cost new. It apparently is even more special than I've thought all these years because I tried to find a picture of anything similar anywhere on the net and failed miserably. These pictures are taken by me of the actual strat.

After I'd had it a while, I was telling a friend who'd played bass in a couple of bands with me about it. When I told him about the Floyd Rose he looked skeptical. "How does that sound?" he asked with this look on his face.
"It sounds fine. Why?" Riotimus said.
"Oh . . . I've just heard that those really screw up your tone."
Who ever would have guessed? Whoever threw that out into the universe hasn't ever heard this guitar. This is a really hard rocking guitar. I mostly use the neck pickup and it is so hot that I practically don't use any gain for my distorted sound. Lackhand has seen it first hand. It really is a hot pickup.
My brothers and I have talked on more than one occasion about started little jazz/fusion trio. I have another great guitar, an Ibanez Artstar. (I found this picture online. I actually pulled the pickguard off of mine.)

It is a good guitar and very versatile. As you can probably imagine at a glance it sounds good whether playing "Stranglehold" or "Take 5."

It is my oldest guitar and the scale by which I measure every guitar I meet. But I digress. The Artstar has a lovely jazz sound as might be expected with the semi-hollowbody design.

It was my plan to use the Artstar for our little jam-borie, but one day I was jamming on the strat and someone wanted to hear one of the tunes we'd been messing with. I said, "I don't know what it'll sound like on the strat, but here it goes."
So I switched to the neck pickup and went to my custom jazz setting on my amp . . . and it blew the Artstar away. Some things just aren't fair. The Artstar is a specialized tool, generally misused by rockers like myself, a jazzy sounding beast. Why should the strat be able to rock so hard and still sound so pure, so rich, so magical? It doesn't look the part, but if I recorded both of these guitars playing jazz and then asked just about anyone to identify which sound went with which guitar, they'd want to put the best sound with the Artstar, the obvious jazz implement. Let it be known that, even though I would enjoy having any of the guitars I've talked about here, I love my strat. It rules.

R.

Woo Ee

2010-08-30T02:32:00.001-07:00

By the time I go to bed tonight, I'll have been up for for roughly forty hours. School rules.

Reflection

2010-08-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Just call me Jewel.

Got 'er Done

2010-07-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

I just submitted my little dark fantasy story. I had a lot of help in revising and bouncing ideas and I'd like to thank them as that took the time to read the story and made the effort to get me some feedback. I'm happy with the story. Hopefully the editor will be too. Write on.

Guitars, Cataphracts, Hills, and Great Music

2010-07-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

This country tune came to my mind the other day and I thought to myself, "Self, who knew you and Dwight Yoakam had so many of the same interests. In tribute to that observation I've decided to expand upon all of these great things and how they relate to Riotimus.

Guitars

Guitars are great. Guitars are swell. I love to bang on them and really give them a good rocking. I've had a fetish for "offset waist" guitars for a few years now, which is unfortunate since my guitar buying days are behind me. At least for now. Here are a few axes that aren't in Riotimus's jamming room but should be:

Fender Jazzmaster

Fender Jaguar

Fender Mustang

Fender Tornado

Fender Jagstang

Cataphracts

The cataphract was the precursor to the medieval knight. After being routed again and again by Eastern horsemen, the Roman Empires transitioned from lightly or unarmored cavalry to a system where man and horse were encased in metal. Indeed, the word cataphract means something like "camp stove." The cost of maintaining the horses and acquiring the equipment required a great deal of wealth, setting the stage for the feudal system. In battle the cataphracts would form a wedge and drive through the enemy line, usually straight at their leader, making a hole for lighter armored cavalry and infantry to come through. The Byzantine version of the medieval period was not so heavily armored as in the above picture, but was also a mounted archer who inspired fear throughout the Eurasia.

Hills

I love to run to the hills like in that song by the Iron Maidens. They are incredibly cathartic for me. Next month I'll be going to the San Juans for my dad's memorial service. They are beautiful.

These are the Bookcliff Mountains near where I grew up. I hunted these with my dad when I was a kid, took my Bronco out in them with my wife while we were courting. They are amazing.

Music

Music has always been a big thing for me. Below is a crazy list of songs that are significant to turning me into Riotimus.

"Queen of Hearts" - the first song Riotimus remembers ever singing.
"Hang 'em High" - the gritty first hard rock Riotimus experienced at a neighbors house that changed the way he listened to music forever.
"You're Time is Gonna Come" - one of the only songs ever with cool keyboards, this song convinced Riotimus that music didn't have to be the new thing to be cool.
"Fly to the Angels" - butt rocker anthems moved Riotimus in the days of first loves. Riotimus saw Slaughter twice live. It was awesome.
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Riotimus is really sick of this song. But the first time he heard it he was at a party where MTV was playing through the home stereo. Teenagers were snowboarding down the stairs and the host was drunk and breaking his parents bed. Yeah, he paid for that one. After years of listening to butt rock, Nirvana's rawness shined on Riotimus like capital-t-truth. Of course it wasn't, but Riotimus was only 16, so what did he know anyways?
"Eye of the Beholder" - Riotimus was hanging at the gas station with his buddies at lunch when someone pulled up and cranked this tune from the beginning. Riotimus knew then, as he does now, that Metallica is the greatest rock band of all time.

I could keep going on and on, but since I'm out of time I'm just going to go with these. I hope you enjoyed this peek deep into the inner brain of Riotimus. And I hope you didn't get any on you.

R.

Shifting Gears

2010-06-05T09:33:00.001-07:00

A friend sent me an email telling me of a dark fantasy anthology that is seeking submissions this month. I've temporarily shifted from my modern cowboy stories to write a piece for the anthology. It will be a unique challenge; it is both darker and more magical than what I usually do when I write fantasy. I'm about a quarter of the way through it now. Hopefully my fingers will be more magical than usual as well.

R.

Spastic

2010-06-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I've never been much of a fan of hip hop. I can't stand a lot of it and I actually like very little of it. It strikes me funny that I should take to watching "dance crews" dancing to it. Some of it is worse than the music. Sometimes something just blows my mind, though, like this performance by the Jabbawockeez:

How does a person get their body to do that kind of stuff? Unbelievable.

R.

Ascending Trajectory

2010-05-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Amid the tumult of life that is surrounding me I am happy to report that I've been hired to teach Literature and Composition this summer to high school kids in a special program that helps them prepare for college. The pay isn't much, but it is a national program that will hopefully look good on my resume.

On the writing front, I am five chapters into my novel, hoping to knock out another today. Or at least get started on one.

R.

Ashes

2010-04-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dad was cremated yesterday. It was a crazy hard day. He lived with so much vitality; he was too young to go, to suffer as much as he did. It's strange to think that after the intensity he lived with that all is left is some dust and a few trinkets. No more stories, too-sweet breakfasts, or debates solely to get someone riled up. No more horse rides through the mountains or belated lessons he'd intended to give when I was younger. Indeed, resting in peace seems to be held by the dead. I miss you Dad.

R.

Standardized Education, er, Tests, er, Teachers, er, etc.

2010-03-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

People always know how to fix the problem with American schools. You can see that in Obama's new standards approach and in this attack on teachers. In the first article, Obama wants to throw some of our grandchildren's money at the problem. By bringing the states together to adopt a universal standard which the federal government would enforce, he will fix our issues. In the second, the weight of academic success for the entire country should be the sole responsibility of the teachers as if they are assembly line workers.

They are both swell articles.

But who is talking about the real problem?

The problem isn't one of money. Money is only as useful as those spending it are creative and wise - a rare combination in my experience.

It isn't teachers. Teachers are people, and like people in any field some are talented, lazy, brilliant, passionate, disinterested, and self-interested. There are those teachers that help us to love learning, and those that cause us to hate it. If someone compares their list of which is which with Joe-down-the-street, they might find that their lists are completely opposite.

The truth is that learning is the responsibility of the learner. Every parent has probably learned (whether they admit it publicly or not) that you cannot force knowledge (education, skill, or values) on someone who is unwilling to do the work to acquire them. The learner must decide that acquiring the knowledge will be worth his or her while in some personal, material, or social fashion, and then keep at it until the knowledge is their own.

So we reach the root of the problem. Acquisition of knowledge is not an American value.

Acquisition of wealth is valued by Americans. Some people try to claim an association between acquisition of knowledge and acquisition of wealth. I won't make such a claim, even if the odds are better for someone with education than for someone lacking.

Acquisition of entertainment is valued by Americans. That's why someone will shell out big bucks (theirs or their parents') for college, then sit in class and text or watch YouTube or play games. That's why the graduating generation is looking for companies that allow employees to use social networks on the job.

As parents, we may or may not make our kids do their homework. We may or may not help them do their homework. We may or may not expect a certain grade performance from them.

But when was the last time our children saw us turn off tube or step away from the game console or computer and learn something, anything at all, that didn't have an entertainment payoff (like the instructions for the Wii) or have dollar signs attached (like a book on how to become a millionaire by reusing your old toilet paper)?

Improving American education, like improving American work ethic, American morals, and American anything else, will depend on our families. No amount of government money or misplaced accountability can help our children to value their education. What we can do is develop and demonstrate our own love of learning and hope that our children can be convinced to emulate us.

R.

The Orwellian World

2010-03-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

Newsweek posted this article about big brother and our dwindling freedom of movement. It discusses the way government agencies can track us by our cell phones using broadcasting towers to triangulate where we are down to a city block, or if our phone has a GPS feature, our exact locations . . . and not even need a warrant to do it. In fact, if not for resistance among the judicial community, it might never have come to light that we could be followed in such a way, either in real-time or in saved data.

One of the instances of cited abuse occurred when an agency tried to get records of all the people at a union labor protest. The exciting thing about that is when you feel like engaging in a peaceful demonstration against publications that only print stories and poems written by their own editors or against skinny jeans or against pop divas or against tracking people by their cell phones without their knowledge, you can do so knowing that your name, conveniently pulled from your cell phone records, will go on a list. Everyone loves to be on a list.

R.

The New Project

2010-02-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

I have decided to take the short cowboy stories I've been writing and turn them into a full-blown novel series. I started today and I'm over five hundred words closer to being done now. Plus I impressed Mrs. R immensely, which I always enjoy. I'm not sure anyone comes here anymore, but I am going to try to update more often.

R.

Merrily Christmas

2009-12-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

My family is at my in-laws for Christmas. It was a traditional Eve and Morn--short night and early morning--but well worth it. The kids had so much fun. I had fun too; in my stocking was a five-function survival whistle that included flash mirror, compass, and lanyard, amongst other things.

Hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas.

R.

Do You Know Where Your Make-up Comes From?

2009-11-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

In the wild lands to the south, an epidemic has been discovered--the slaying of fat people for the bountiful treasure within. This human lard is then sold to European cosmetic companies for up to $60K a gallon.

R.

For the Love of Books

2009-11-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

Setting: Jr. High classroom; kids being noisy because they just have a substitute. Mr. Riotimus gives them their instructions and sits down. Picks up From Puritanism to Postmodernism: A History of American Literature and begins to read. Odd Girl walks up to him and stares intently.

Odd Girl: I've read that before.

Mr. Riotimus: That's great.

Odd Girl: It's a good book.

Mr. Riotimus: I'm glad you liked it.

Odd Girl wanders back to desk, spends a few minutes doing assignment, then starts reading trendy vampire-romance novel. Stands and shuffles back to substitute.

Odd Girl: That's such a great book (referring to Puritanism).

Mr. Riotimus: (Too dumbfounded to speak).

Odd Girl: I've read it, like, fifteen times!

Mr. Riotimus: (Wishes he didn't have to read it even once as it is heavy on information but light on any of the things that made the works it discusses so pleasant to experience).

Odd Girl: You probably want to know how it ends, but you'll have to finish it and find out for yourself!

Mr. Riotimus: . . . I suppose I will. Thanks.

Finis

Hope your reading endeavors are treating you as well as your writing ones. Write on.

R.

Zanpakuto

2009-11-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

There are them as that don't know what a zanpakuto is, and that's a real shame.

Don't cut yourself.

R.

"Do try my stew . . ."

2009-10-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

The scene I would like you to watch starts at about 7:30 and may be the greatest scene ever laid down on film. Yes; yes it is. It goes until around 8:07 or so.

R.

What I'm Doing Now

2009-10-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's tearing you apart, wondering what that is. Well . . . I'm still plugging along on my MA; I've just endured an enlightening read of James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - that didn't thrill me, but I suppose everybody studying literature is forced to read it at some point. I was impressed with the dialogue. That's about all I can say for it. I've had to read some other more satisfying books, but if I post about them I will do it later.

In spite of my failure to report the numbers, I have been writing, beefing up my portfolio to try to get into an MFA of Creative Writing for next fall. I am getting a good chunk of short stories in my new series put together, with a respectable number of segments jotted down in my pocket notebook. I'm pleased with where the characters are going and the potential the series has. I've not been able to come up with a title for the it, which is strange because I often start with a title or know what the title should be once I begin to grasp the story. What do you call a series about a cowboy in the early-to-mid nineties? I hopefully will come up with something bettet than The [Main-Character] Stories soon.

I've come across a fairly fun band called Skillet. They sound like a cross of Hinder, Evanescence, and Plumb. It's always nice to find something hard-rockish that won't leave the kids scarred if they hear it. Here's one of their tunes set to a segment of Bleach (for you Zilla).

Watch Bleach Skillet-Monster in Anime | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Write On.

R.

Arachnid

2009-10-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

A spider bit me upon the leg

A great long drink of Dixie dregs

Yellow pustules of venom full

Sour poison blistering cruel

Spider, you did avoid mine eye

Someday soon I hope you die

Dear Government . . .

2009-09-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Mr. Obama, the Congress, assorted yes men and bureaucrats of all different sorts:

There was nothing wrong with my state managed student loans. By retroactively purchasing them you are in fact hurting me, my family, and my ability to ever contribute gainfully to this society. This heavy-handed approach to creating a crisis so that you can claim to have fixed something is wrong, and I think you know it.

Sincerely,

Riotimus, an American

Testing . . .

2009-08-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

This week I have been subbing in an elementary school that I am fond of. At lunch today I heard a teacher saying she would love to teach social studies, but since it isn't on the state and federal mandated tests she's not going to. Social studies. For those of you who don't recall what that is here is a little rundown:

Geography

History

Economics

Political science

It is the essence of intelligent humanity and patriotism being ran down in order to create a more pliable (ie. more open to propaganda)but technically advanced labor force. Something about that makes me think of Germany in the 1930's. Wait . . . the day is coming when a reference like that will have no meaning, no power, no recognition. I think it is not just a shame, but it should be a crime.

But nobody asks riotimus for his opinion before they make the big decisions.

R.

Writing Manuals

2009-08-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

This summer I had the opportunity to read a couple of really good books about the art of fiction. One was Steering the Craft by Ursela LeGuin and the other was On Writing by Stephen King. They were noteworthy for a couple of reasons which I will hereby expound upon.

Both of these books were a pleasure to read. They were enlightening and they moved. It was a pleasing experience which I cannot say for many writing books I have read regardless of who wrote them.

Steering the Craft is concise and to the point. LeGuin (Eathsea Trilogy) touches on issues she's come across in workshops and seminars, things like tense, suspense, adverbs, and writer's groups/circles/etc.

On Writing starts with a large memoir section of the things King feels like relate to his writing - how's, when's, and why's. He touches on the language, pacing, adverbs, agents, revision, etc.

One of the things that made an impression on me were the way they had some of the same opinions - opinions that were not in line with a lot of books I've read before, though that wasn't always the case. One of the points of dissent had to do with plotting. Both LeGuin and King were adamant that plotting is a device, that it has little to do with storytelling, but is more of a gimmick. King calls his writing "situational writing" in that he sticks a character in a situation and as he finds out more about the character he finds out where the story is going.

Another cool point had to do with action. LeGuin says that writers often feel like their needs to be conflict or action in order to have a story. She says all they really need is change. A transition is a story, in other words. I can't put it as beautifully as she did so I will recommend that you read the book for more.

Adverbs were one of the things they both talked about. King said "the road to hell is paved with adverbs" or something very close to that. LeGuin wasn't quite so dramatic about it, but she felt just as strongly. Adverbs weaken and cheapen your verbs, placing the author at risk of looking weak or preposterous. Between the two of them I have made a goal to not let any adverbs or adverbial phrases slip into my fiction, or if they do to not let them make it past the first draft.

King talks about not sharing your story with anyone until you have a complete draft. If you do he goes through a whole list of scenarios that damage your efforts to finish the story well.

I strongly recommend both of these books to writers of fiction. They deserve much more of a treatment than I gave them here today, so check them out.

R.

Master

2009-07-30T08:39:00.001-07:00

I have been unofficially accepted into a Master of Arts in English program. It will have to go through the whole big process before I get my letter, but I am starting classes next month. I am very excited.

R.

United Airlines: Shame On You

2009-07-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

When faced with the shameful allegation of guitar breaking, United Airlines claimed lack of liability. I say change your evil ways.

R.

A Note on Personal Combat

2009-07-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

All thorough my life I have heard the question posed as to what martial art or fighting system is the best. I’ve heard many arguments and seen many inconclusive matches, tournaments, and unabashed braggadocio have led me to speculate as to the probability of a decisive event. This speculation has come about due to a combination of my renewed study of Taekwondo, my recent watching of the one and only season of Human Weapon, and all of the discussion on Blog Ing about which historical warriors would dominate if they actually met in combat. Since many of you are writing fiction, and fiction that involves personal combat on some level, I thought I would share my thoughts for what they are worth.

As a young student of Taekwondo I felt that it was very complete. I was, and still am, though in a much more subjective way, enamored with the art and its many strengths. Over the years I’ve seen and experienced things that made me aware of a large voids or weaknesses within Taekwondo. As I’ve learned more about other martial arts their flaws have stuck out to me as well. I will offer some examples to try to illustrate the point.

Taekwondo is a striking art known for its abundance of kicks, flying and standing. The purpose behind almost all movement is the production of power that will (ideally) end a conflict in one blow. A practitioner that can keep his opponent at leg’s length would be very difficult to beat. However, very little of its emphasis is directed towards grappling (systems that involve throwing, submission holds like joint locks, and/or pinning) in spite of a tidbit called Ho Sin Sul. This self-defense style is basic hold breaking good for fending off the school bully or an alley thug but probably not against someone who has studied jiu-jitsu, judo, aikido, its cousin hapkido, or wrestling.

Other arts, and styles within arts, are also laden with weaknesses, the greatest of which in my opinion is the culture that develops around them. The artist becomes indoctrinated with the rules and specific application of his or her style and is unprepared to deal with an unfamiliar culture. I’ve used the example of Taekwondo’s deficiency in the area of grappling already; I will further illustrate the point by looking at some other combat systems.

To flip the issue, I’ve seen grapplers in the ring take a beating because they are so focused on getting a hold of their opponent that they disregard the heavy strikes from hand and foot. In spite of these, the grappler usually has the advantage; most punches and kicks are fairly basic and not completely foreign to the grappler. Grappling on the other hand is often totally unknown to the striker as the main goal of most striking systems is to keep the opponent away. This is not always true; aikido for example is a peaceful art, meaning the goal is to protect yourself and your enemy at the same time. It is an art of counter-moves, but over the years moves that are considered too aggressive have been removed from practice. This leaves the practitioner without a practiced counter-move if faced with a cross-system confrontation.

Another aspect worthy of consideration is the cultural rules of engagement. Maui Tai, Pradal Serey, and Wing Chun all utilize knee and elbow strikes which are anathema in most other martial arts. A practitioner of Karate, Taekwondo, or Savate would likely be caught off guard by this brutal approach to fighting. Basically the stricter the tournament rules of a combat system are the more of a disadvantage their artist will have when faced with an anything-goes kind of match, whether it be on the street or in a ring. Another cultural feature is that of turns. In my years of Taekwondo experience I remember there being an unspoken rule of engagement: you attack, then I counter-attack, then you counter-attack, and so on. Many systems, especially those of Southeast Asia, spit in the face of such systems. Practitioners are taught that if you wait for your opponent to finish his attack you are already too late. Counter-attacks must be made immediately once the attack is recognized.

Because of each combat system’s innate weakness, newer hybrids have a distinct advantage over more historical and culturally accurate arts. Blends like Israel’s Krav Maga take the most effective and brutal moves from a variety of fighting styles and use them in urban warfare and anti-terrorist combat. It is a very effective art. Some blends lose a lot in their conception; mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting was historically a format where practitioners of different systems could meet up and see who had the bigger roundhouse, or armbar, or whatever. It has become a culture where a martial artist has a base system (like jiu-jitsu) and then picks up assorted moves from wherever he can. The result is a whole lotta slop, like in that song by Led Zeppelin. Kicks and punches are thrown with all of the technical awareness of a potato head, but with a lot more force. The one area they excel in is that they are not usually caught off guard by attacks of differing systems; they see more moves and have to contend with more variety in a match than any other art.

When it comes down to it, I don’t think there is a superior combat system. Each one has weaknesses and shortcomings due to the culture of its origination and the culture that has sprung up around the art. I propose that if two martial artists of similar stature but differing systems collided outside of the ring that the winner would be the fighter most able to deal with having the carpet yanked out from under him; by that I mean the one who can most quickly adapt to compensate for his lack of knowledge of the opponents system.

I think this would apply not only to empty-handed combat, but to that revolving around the use of weapons such as sword, shield, axe, pike, etc. Every system of combat would have its own set of strengths and weaknesses that could never be artificially compared by a computer because in the end it would be the fighter’s adaptability that would determine the outcome.

R.

Where, Oh Where, Can My Little Site Be?

2009-07-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Years ago I came across a nifty website. It was super cool and I was buried in school and now I feel a fool because I didn't write down what it was or something. It worked basically like this:

You would enter an author's name and it would pull up a map of the genre. The map or tree or whatever consisted of a bunch of author's names all over the screen. The one that you entered would be in bold or something like that and it would give you an idea of what authors in the genre were writing similar things.

If anyone knows where this site is I would be thrilled for the information.

Thanks,

R.

Too Rarely Heard

2009-07-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of playlists I have put together, mostly for Ing, but anyone who has not given Metallica a good listen since the Black Album on account of what was getting played on the radio. The new album, Death Magnetic, I have posted almost in its entirity and the other playlist is a collection of deep cuts from Load, Reload, S&M, Garage, Inc., and St. Anger. To my knowledge none of those songs have been played on the radio unless someone was listening to one of those Metallica shows (Mandatory Metallica and its like).

Death Magnetic - This album, to me, is an amalgamation of all of the best sounds of Metallica. Some of my personal favorites are Broken, Beat, and Scarred and Cyanide, along with the first instrumental since Justice, Suicide and Redemption.

The Metallicats - This should be a fun playlist. At least it is for me. Lots of Metallica but no tired radio tunes. It's heavenly. Bad Seed and Where the Wild Things Are be some of my favorites off of this list of favorites. I wanted Purify off the St. Anger album, but I couldn't find it on playlist.

Pleasant listening.

R.

In the Mail

2009-06-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

So I finished the story at around 7,400 words and sent it off in the mail. I won't know until this fall whether it placed or not, but I think it was good for me to send something off. I used to be very systematic about writing and submitting stories. I've started meeting with some other writers a couple of times a month. I'm hoping it will keep my writing efforts up as well as offer me some promise in the discouraging face of trying to find a job in this economy.

R.

The Question

2009-06-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

There are some TV shows that just leave a viewer like me plagued by questions. I know what you're thinking: if I no longer have TV, how can I watch shows? Well, many years ago, when our first child started making noise even, we stopped watching anything that doesn't have a pause button; we watch our TV on Hulu. But the point is the questions a show brings up:

Was it supposed to be irony that the A-Team was made up of misfits?

Will Tina ever find love? (From some soap opera I saw once as a kid)

Why did the GIJoes ever let that wrestling hack Slaughter act like he could get their special-forced butts trained like they needed to beat Cobra?

These are some questions from years long past. Lately, I've pondered these:

Why is there always a pineapple in Psych?

How come the women of Chuck only put mascara on their upper eye lashes?

And most importantly to me and most of my readers: How is it that Bones is supposed to be so disconnected from humanity, have such inability to connect, understand, and communicate with people, and somehow manage to write best-selling novels? I'm not well read in crime-fiction, but it seems to me that it would still have to have a strong human element to acquire readers. Isn't that why most of us read? To experience humanity in a variety of situations? It seems to me that even if she is the smartest woman around she would still need to connect.

Thanks for reading.

R.

The New Collection

2009-06-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Okay it's not really new; I've been writing Hobb stories for over a year now. What's new is that I've begun to think of them as Hillbilly 90210. They are packed with angst and drama. Anyways, the new one is coming write along. Angst and drama. In this installment Hobb gets his ego broken by a girl and fights with his best friend. Anyways, that's where I'm at.

R.

HD?

2009-06-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

I just watched a news clip saying that 218,000 people will be joining me in losing TV reception this weekend. They implied that it was happening because of ignorance or poor judgment, and not a conscious choice or decision of protest.

HD, huh, what is it good for? Better picture, more channels, and better reception they say. But who are they really?

R.

P.S. I am writing again, trying to pound out a short story for a June 25th deadline. It feels good. With any luck there will be more posts on Write On about writing to go with my eclectic observations and ramblings.

And the Winner is . . . Who?

2009-05-03T17:55:00.001-07:00

Mine That Bird? Mine what? What is riotimus talking about now?

Only this:

The Kentucky Derby. "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports."

At least it was yesterday. I was going to say watch before reading on, but you might be glad for the heads up of what to watch for.

It would be cool if there was a slow motion viddy out there or something, but just so you don't have to watch it seventy-five times to figure out what happened like I did, I will give you riotimus' take on things.

Early in the race, like for first the minute-and-a-half, there is a horse at the very back of the pack. Way in the back. So far in the back that the announcer almost forgets to mention him and his place. He is Mine That Bird, moseying along with 50:1 odds against him. You get a good shot of how far back he is around :39 and :56.

The pack goes into the second and final turn and as they are about to come out of it, Mine That Bird begins sliding past EVERYONE. The jockey, Calvin Borel, guides him along the rail, out and around a jockey in red, then back to the rail to rush past the front-runners and win by 6-3/4 lengths. Mine That Bird comes up so fast that the announcer doesn't even realize he is there until he has passed everyone.

Like one commenter said, if this had been in a movie no one would have believed it. Enjoy.

R.

Compliments

2009-04-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

My wife told me this morning that I am "handsy." I'm not sure of the definition of that, but I'm assuming it is a compliment, like handy. Or handsome.

R.

Farewell to Derek

2009-04-04T16:31:00.000-07:00

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Who is going to be the sane person on Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles now that he is gone? I'm not sure that the show can float without that character. I suppose we'll see.

As a writer, I must admit, I was very impressed by the way they did it. It was cold. Icy cold. He comes around the corner and takes one to the head. No lame dramatic death scene for Derek; one second he's stalking metal and the next he is dead. I can appreciate the suddenness of that.

Here's one to "funny Derek." May the force be with you. Or whatever they say in Terminator world. Illegitimus Non Carborundum? It was intense.

R.

5-5-5

2009-03-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

The challenge: From your Pictures, take the the fifth picture from the fifth file, post it, and write about it. Then you tag five people to do the same. I'm not going to bother to tag anyone; at times I'm not sure if there are five people who read this. I accepted Kel's general challenge, and I will pass it on. If you are reading this and you feel like doing it, go right on ahead. It turns out to be a silly one for me:

I'm not sure this qualifies as a picture, but it was the fifth item in my fifth folder. The image is a gif of the Gundam Heavy Arms from Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. It is probably my favorite Gundam of all time (Gundams are a Mobile Suit, ie., a big machine piloted by a human who sits in the chest cavity). There are Gundam models, action figures, t-shirts, and multiple series of cartoons from around 1979 (making it the longest running mecha-type anime that I am familiar with). Some people can't abide it, but fortunately I am not one of those.

R.

Class Divisions

2009-03-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

They are very interesting, these non-real life microcosms that are our classrooms. Yesterday I taught Algebra. Or I suppose I should say that I babysat a room full of kids that were supposed to be doing Algebra assignments given by their regular teacher. Throughout the day I noticed that there were students that would get the work done, students that would play around with it like my three-year-old does his dinner, and students that would not even take out their writing utensils. This last group would tell me that they couldn't do the assignment because they didn't know what to do.

Sometimes I would know, sometimes I would not; I am a writer and historian, after all, not a mathematician. It has been over eight years since I squeaked through College Algebra with just high enough marks to have it transfer when I moved and switched schools. Whatever.

For the last class of the day, it was not knowing most often. So when one of the kids who tore through the assignment finished I asked him to help some of the students who were having trouble. This is what he did, no kidding: studiously avoiding those who had not deigned to whip out their pencils, he went to all of the kids that were playing with the assignment and asked if they needed help, then helped or moved on as their response warranted.

I could speculate on and on about how and why this happened, but instead I will merely leave my observation here for your consideration.

R.

Uh-oh, It's Magic

2009-03-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

I find that there are almost as many songs with magic as there are fantasy novels with lame magic. Like bad fantasy magic, I grew weary of sifting through lame songs to make this playlist for your listening pleasure. Feel free to skip as you please.

Yesterday I was substituting at a remedial high school, one where everyone there lives in a group home for various reasons and where a few are at about the same reading/writing/counting level as my five-year old. In between doing my best to help those that were willing to accept it an idea hit me that had me wanting to yodel like the freak in Hocus Pocus.

I'm not sure whether I'm elated or horrified, but with sudden clarity I saw a magic system that would meet most all of my overly-critical magic requirements: it would not be a regurgitation of some better (or at least more successful) author's system; it would be grounded in science; it would create more problems than it ever solves for the user. Now I must rework my world to accommodate this new development. It is bittersweet; it will be more work, but it should make the story more marketable. Or something like that.

R.

So Tired

2009-03-03T19:12:00.001-08:00

Tired of opening my browser to Gilly's face. I submit my humble apology to my readers for the many times they (potentially) came here only to find the face of Gilly still at the top. I will write some good posts soon to make up for it. In the mean time I will give you a few random thoughts as is my default when my brain doesn't feel up to writing the post I actually want to write.

Skinny Pants - Substitute teaching has brought me face to face with style. All I can say is skinny pants look bad on girls. They look worse on boys.

Recession - Seeing all those kids decked out in their matching trendy clothes makes me grateful to be a home-schooler. I couldn't afford to send my kids to public school. I'm sure there is a connection between that and our economic crisis.

No Student Left Behind - Except for the ones who are left behind.

If you are reading this, thank you for stopping by in spite of my absence and the looming presence of Gilly.

R.

Some Work

2009-01-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

So it looks like I will be starting next week doing some substitute teaching. I will be making less than I have since high school, but at least some money will be coming in. Hopefully I won't run into too many Gillys.

R.

Random Thoughts in January

2009-01-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

I'm still around, slinging my resume about as if it were one of Gambit's cards. Still waiting for the bang though.

It has been a month of randonimity and so here are some crazy things that have passed through the eclectic mind of Riotimus.

Speaking of Gambit, I saw a preview that suggests that he will be in the Wolverine movie next summer. Gambit has gone through many interpretations so if any of my fine readers ever followed the X-Men which Gambit would you like to see on the big screen? Or what do you like or dislike about the character?
I was recently remembering this post from Blog Ing about Spam. It is one of the funniest things I've ever come across in Blog Land or otherwise. Unfortunately the pictures no longer appear to be active, but maybe Ing will fix it for those of you that haven't been through his archives.
I heard a few tunes that I thought I would share. The first, Cath, I loved everything about and was shocked to find that it was by a band I despise. Secondly, Re-Education (through labor) has the coolest name in all songdom and really appeals to my inner eco-social malcontent. Old Enough reminds me of what I was like when I was young and what it is like to have a serious conversation with a youth. It is a shame clarity takes so much time to achieve. None of these bands are favorites of mine, but the songs are.
I'm reading The Elfstones of Shannara. I recently finished The Sword of Shannara. I don't understand how The Sword can be so painful experience to read and The Elfstones still live up to my distant memories. Is it that Brooks grew as a writer and story teller? Is it that I can't get past regurgitated Tolkien enough to enjoy Sword? I suppose I may never know.

So that's a bit of what's been on my mind. Have a Merry Monday.

Revolution

2008-12-28T17:54:00.001-08:00

I was looking back through my archives the other day and it took me back to my most prolific days when I was pounding out stories regularly, sending them out, and collecting my rejection slips. It was both invigorating and daunting. It led to a revolutionary decision.

There were two stories that for different reasons don't fall into my usual anti-epic story approach. One involved an unexpected meeting with a lot of pain and passion twisted up in the baggage. The other told of a later meeting, the political mess it leads to, and a daring rescue by the POV character's benefactor. Both were written in the first person.

So this is what I have decided to do: I am going to combine and re-write both of those stories into one with a third person POV. Time has also clarified some of the things that were issues to me when I initially wrote them and I hope to come out of it with a lengthy Writers of the Future entry. That's the plan. Wish me luck.

R.

Pain in the Glass

2008-12-24T16:12:00.001-08:00

Today I decided it would be good to deep clean the fridge. At one point I pulled the glass sheet out of the bottom and carefully scrubbed it at the sink. Clean as new, virtually radiating sanitizedness and sparkling, the sheet was a beauty to behold. Until it slipped from my wet fingers. Elyena said it sounded like someone dropped a jar of beans on the floor. Shrapnel struck my thumb, practically severing it. Glass tinkled to rest all throughout the kitchen and dining room. It was inconcievable the area that glass shards were able to cover. Thank goodness for shop vacs. Merry Christmas everyone.

R.

Metal on My Mind

2008-12-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

As I sit here in the hospital, basking in the joy of our first daughter, I thought I would take a few minutes to write some random thoughts I’ve had lately. Somewhere in the Write On Archive there is a post about how when I was younger I thought that I liked heavy metal, that I was a metal head, or some sort of metal maniac. Thanks to Launchcast I learned that it is not so; I am merely a hard rocker who lists some metal bands among his favorites. Sorry for the snub, heavy metal.

So here I will take you on a tour of some of my metallic ideas of late. Let’s Rock.

I’ve found myself thinking of Anthrax lately. Because I was obviously a Master of Metal I felt that I should like them, but beyond I am the Man I could never develop a taste. The other day I heard a couple of songs on the radio. I enjoyed them, but before Bawitdaba and Adrenaline there was Caught in a Mosh. I believe that is the first mosh pit song, but I’m willing to be corrected by them of you as that know. I also put I am the Law, inspired by the comic character Judge Dredd, and their cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. All in all it is a good lesson in why only the front man should have a live mike. Not really, but sometimes.

Some songs have come out lately from so called NuMetal bands, those alternative-metal acts spawned in the nineties after the well-deserved blow to butt-rock led to a metal meltdown. It is funny how things turn out sometimes. Some acts started strong out of the gate and then took the road of the power ballad or just decided to suck. For my examples I carefully selected Faith by Limp Bizkit and Mudshovel by Staind. Then I took Faith off again because the version available had a huge F-bomb right in the middle. Whatever Fred.*

Clawing our way out of the sludge, I wanted to share a few amazing tunes with you, my readers. These are from bands that supposedly sucked, couldn’t solo, and were supposedly going to be crushed under the metal wheels of supposedly better bands. You can see there is a lot of supposition in that.

The first song is Prodigal Son by Sevendust. To me they are the Hootie of metal; they’ve got a soul of steel or something like that. Prodigal Son is nothing out of the ordinary for them; it has raw verses with a hook-heavy chorus. Still rocking.

Next is Dead Memories by Slipknot. These guys make a bunch of unbearable noise with the occasionally undeniably brilliant slab of iron that makes me giddy. I have heard three tunes from their new album, and been impressed with every single one. I picked Dead Memories because Corey Thomas manages to sing the whole song without screaming or using the F-Bomb, then just in case you forgot they were a metal band they blast some double-bass drum action all the way through the second verse.

Mudvayne falls under the same category as Slipknot for me. Their new song Do What You Do is a metal sucker-punch. A groovy first verse and catchy melody set the trap, the jaws spring with the intensity of the chorus, and then just in case you hadn’t figured out that you weren’t listening to 3 Doors Down they turn the second verse on its head and play some downright metal riffage over the same catchy melody.

To end my metal monologue, I will discuss a band that started off suckin’ it up but has earned my admiration. Back in the days of yore there were a lot of bands that had a “sound.” Something about the band made it recognizable even if the listener had never heard the song before without hearing the vocalist. For example, someone might recognize Rush by the way Neal Peart uses his right hand. They might recognize Van Halen from the “Brown Sound,” that unique combination of flanger, reverb, and delay that makes Eddie’s tone so easily identifiable. Or it might be the way Kirk Hammett slathers a lead in his own wah sound that gives away a Metallica song. On and on. Except for many years now bands have not done such a thing. Please share examples if I am wrong. I suppose that that crazy chorus effect that Shaun Morgan uses on all of his solos might identify a Seether song, but nothing else really would. The band of which I come to started out rather Sickly but have garnered my attention with every passing album. I find that like so many of those older bands I can recognize them in an unheard song; I think it is something in the rhythm section because their guitar player frequently changes tones from song to song, but I could be wrong. Indestructible showcases their pummeling combination of melody and brawn.

So that is some of what I’ve been thinking about Metal. That and that Death Magnetic is an amazing Metallica record. I figured this post was dragging on long enough. I would be happy to post my thoughts on Death Magnetic in greater detail if anyone wants to have them. Rock on, people. Have a Metal Christmas.

R.

*Catherine Wheel was never NuMetal band but they rock. And Black Metallic has “Metal” in the title and that is what we are about today.

The Magic is Gone

2008-12-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

After I made a comment on her blog stating that I had boycotted magic, Theadra asked that I explain myself. Given my longwindedness I thought it would be worth posting here, for courtesy's sake and in case my opinion could be of help to any of my other readers. Ing also said he didn't use magic and I hope to see his reasoning turn up somewhere as well.

Many years ago when I was painstakingly creating the world of my fiction I had been reading a lot of fantasy. History as always, but I was devouring fantasy like chocolate-covered cinnamon bears. In my slow, over-analytical way I started to notice that a lot of authors would use magic as a crutch for weak writing. Their characters would get in a bind and all of the sudden there would be a magical out for them. A lot of times it was completely spontaneous as if rather than work out a solution they just inserted magic so they could move on. I find this problem to be rampant. I can think of few fantasy writers who do not use magic in this way.

Another thing that influenced my decision was reading Jack Whyte's pre-Arthurian books. They were a fascinating historical-minded look at the origins of the Arthurian world, with rational, semi-scientific explanations for many of the fantastic elements. I found that very thought provoking and impressive. I can't recommend the books on account of their graphic and sometimes perverse nature, but they did influence my thinking on this matter.

So I started toying with the idea of creating a minimalist fantasy world that would be completely fictional but without any system of magic. It has been a challenge, but very fun to write. Hopefully my rant will inspire any of you using magic to go the extra mile when you are having a "I'll just use magic so I can move on" moment. Write on.

R.

Ladders

2008-12-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Friday was my final day with my mega-corporate employer. As I packed up my cube and exited the building I was filled with memories of the seven years I spent with them.

One day, a year and some-odd months ago, I was doing inside sales at a location. One of the outside salesmen was near my desk and asked, “What are you doing with that white hat? Or should I say yellow?” He was referring to a sweat-stained cap with the company logo on it that hung on the wall behind me.

“I keep that to remember where I came from.” He gave me a blank look and left.

Almost seven years ago I started working for The Company as a forklift operator. Ironically I had seen the job offer through a temp agency and refused to take it, applying for the job directly at a later point when I was more desperate for work. It made a huge impact on the next seven years, and probably will for the rest of my life. Within months of hiring on The Company closed that location, and because I was an actual employee and not a temp-hire I was able to transfer north as a forklift operator for another location. It was a bigger operation and I learned a lot. I also offered a lot of suggestions, tried to learn everything I could, and threw my hat in for every position that opened up. The result was always the same; they patted me on the head and told me to get back on my forklift. During this time I tried to go back to school and flunked out due to the massive amount of overtime my supervisor demanded.

A year or so later a chance came for me to transfer north again as an assistant yard foreman. I was initially very excited and optimistic. My hopes were in vain. I entered the darkest days in my time with the company. Looking back time has revealed and clarified some of the things that made my life hell and caused lasting repercussions for years. The foreman was using me as a scapegoat for anything and everything that went amiss in the yard and/or with deliveries. The people inside the store treated me like I was a leper. During this time I heard about a purchasing position that opened at the district office (the same kind of position that I have had for the last year.) Without talking to anyone at the location, I threw my resume into the ring. I was given a courtesy interview, patted on the head, and told to get back on my forklift.

I had finally come up with the money to try to redeem myself at the University and had been trudging my way through some classes. That spring I had an educational epiphany, a sort of realization of the difference between becoming educated and getting vocational training. I abandoned the training I was pursuing for the purpose of impressing The Company and set about trying to educate myself. In the darkness there grew a distant light.

The result of my new mentality and my interview was that the store manager started looking at me differently. A counter position opened and she asked me to fill it. I told her I would like to have more freedom to schedule school classes; she conceded. I was off of the forklift.

And then The Company decided they didn’t need that store and closed it down. With a full load of classes scheduled all over the place and a family to support I was in terror of what kind of job I would have to get. There were no sales positions open anywhere. Then one of the drivers took an unexpected position. I transferred east to drive truck for The Company. It had been one of my duties as assistant yard foreman, so I knew what it would mean, and it put me back under my nemesis who transferred there as well. However . . . the manager agreed to support my school schedule, so the foremen (including my nemesis) had to be satisfied.

Help came in the form of a mixed blessing. One night early in the fall I was crossing a campus street on my way to class when a sun-blinded driver turned the corner and took me out. While this long chronicle is in honor to my days and findings with The Company I think I will digress and briefly tell about this experience. The car struck me on the left side and sent me flying. The inertia must have caused me to black out briefly. I came to with a relaxing sensation of weightlessness; time moved slowly; I could see nothing but the blue of the sky; “Oh hell,” I thought as it occurred to me that I hadn’t hit the asphalt yet. The pain was amazing. I landed on my hip and elbow. My bag cushioned me in such a way as to keep my brains from smearing the road. Also amazing was that in the end there were no broken bones; a decent amount of muscle, ligament, and tendon damage, but nothing broken. Amazing.

Because of my previous counter experience I was put on the counter while the doctor had me on light duty. By the time the allotted period was past the Manager decided he needed me more inside than out. He canned one of his old people to make way for me.

Within months I had been moved up again into inside sales support. It was a grueling, high-stress position. But I did it for several years, and transferring way south (my archive has some comments about my commuting days) to perform it while I finished school. I kept the hat close by to remember that the actions I took resulted in some person working and sweating long hours in heat and cold. If I typed up 800 sticks instead of 80, it would result in someone besides me going out, possibly at the end of a long day, to pick up the excess 720 boards and bringing them back to the yard. Salesman throughout The Company screw around and screw stuff up continually without giving a damn about the extra burden they inflict with the justification of “It’s their job.” It is a shame that the consequences are so out of proportion.

I graduated a year ago and stepped into the purchasing job I wanted all those years ago. I hung the hat on my cube wall, even though in purchasing my actions rarely had any physical consequences for those at the store level.

In a way these seven years have been like a manifestation of the American Dream. I started at the bottom and ended part of a district support team. I don’t often feel that way though. In my climb up the ladder I passed people of greater intelligence, people who worked harder, and people who deserved more than me. My time with The Company destroyed my ideal that anyone who was willing to work hard and give it their all could be successful. The deck is stacked. I am grateful for what I was blessed with. It got my family through some trying times. I’m more grateful for the lessons I have learned.

Thanks for reading.

Riotimus

Quest

2008-12-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

The holidays are upon us--whether we would risk them or not--and I fear that things will drop off for some of us. But not me. I've got time on my hands just like in that song by Styx. Hopefully some of you are still reading because I would like your help.

The quest seems to be an unavoidable aspect of fantasy storytelling. Back in the Howard days, Conan was a vagabond and even when he made himself king of Aquilonia I don't think it lasted long. Lord of the Rings set the epic quest formula. Jordan's convoluted endless drama is just a series of soap-operatic quests. Quests, quests everywhere.

Is the quest mandatory to good fantasy? I would like your thoughts and any examples you are willing to share. I am currently reading a book called The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. It is a satirical fantasy encyclopedia that addresses common cliches and stereotypes in popular fantasy stories. It is great for a laugh; it also shows the difficulty in telling a quest story with any hope of originality. I believe it can be done, so carry on if you are committed to your quest tale. Have you read any fantasy that doesn't follow the quest format? What was it and how did it strike you? Your input is appreciated.

R.

Distraction

2008-11-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

I’ve been chipping away at reading Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Yes, still chipping. My bookmark looks to be working its way between the one-third and halfway point of the book. It is a lot of pages, but considering I have never encountered a book before with print as small as it is I can’t really compare my progress to anything else I have read. Consequently I was beginning to lose faith in my reading abilities. I’m known as a thorough reader*, if not a fast one, so time to the finish line is a sensitive point to me.

So I made a decision.

I decided to insert a novel into the middle of my study of the Third Reich. I picked The Firm by John Grisham. I’d never read it before and it had been a long time since I read anything by him. Apparently the years I have spent writing and studying other writer’s work increased my senses to some finer points of style that I will examine on hereafter.

The first thing I noticed was that the prose was weak. I understand that is one of his early works, but I still found myself thinking of his backlist and considering Grisham as the Louis L’Amour of legal thrillers. Maybe he got better. It really has no bearing on my examination except as an insight to how my analytical skills have changed over the years.

In The Firm the characters are all static and flat. I understand that there are different terms out there and when I say static I mean that there is no character growth (the beach scene isn’t what I’m talking about) and they all have the liveliness of one of those Build Your Character sheets inserted into the text of the story. The only person in the story who inspired any emotion from me was Abby, and it was because she was married to an ingenious chump, not because Grisham wasted anytime making her a person. So it is obvious that The Firm isn’t a character story.

So why did I burn through it in less than a week? It had me on the edge of my seat. Grisham created a lot of tension. I suspect that he reverse engineered his story the way a lot of mystery writers do; he came up with how the ending would go and then worked out what would have to happen for to get there and inserted tidbits throughout the story in a way that defied notice or left the reader wondering how that was going to come into play. I wonder if he deviated at all from his outline.

It always impresses me how many different ways there are to make it as a writer. For all that The Firm kept me riveted while I read; I left it without connecting with a single character and that is rare for me. I apparently lean towards character-driven works. I was also disappointed with the end. Mitch manages to get away with everything on account of his being “smarter than [everyone else]” and Abby loses her family and ends up on the run with Captain Fidelity. Based on the bittersweet endings of some other Grisham books that I vaguely remember I suppose that it could have been meant as an ironic ending, but I expected more from the protagonist and he didn’t have it to give. Maybe Grisham was making a point about expectations.

R.

Solitude

2008-11-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was walking home from work a little after sunset. It was cool and the world was blanketed in gold and shadow. I past a house some distance from my home and as the man there was opening his door to climb into his car he offered me a ride. I declined and kept on. It is a quiet neighborhood, and I enjoy the smell of the fallen leaves and the light breeze on my face. It reminds me that I am alive; it awakens some inner self that is free and hopeful. As I walked on I thought about the man. I can't recall his name, but every time I have seen him he has been friendly and kind. I wonder if it would have been better to reach out and make human contact instead of savouring my solitude.

R.

Sonic Scream

2008-11-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

When my two lads are fighting amongst themselves the younger makes a sound that is exactly like the cry of the Nazgul. Exactly. I tried to find a video clip to embed in case you don't recall that cry, but I couldn't. Probably better for you if you don't.

R.

Going Around the Office

2008-11-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

So with the entire office given the boot by the company to which we gave a collective 219 years of service, I received a variation of this email about twenty times today with something like "We can use all the luck we can get." My principles kept me from sending it to anyone, but this is my interpretation of it:

"To:RIOTIMUS91459873451@mail.com; dude@mail.com; buddy@mail.com; beavis@mail.whitehouse.gov; butthead@mail.gov; chickla@mail.com; linus@mail.com

From: PAB@mail.com

Subject: FW: Chinese Luck Proverb

[Imagine this coming out in a slow Power Point format on a lovely beige background]

This is a Chinese Proverb.

It started in Amsterdam.

It has been around the world 278.6 times. Keep it going.

Don't change any text from the way it came to you.

The Chinese Proverb:

Money can buy you a hot dog, but it can't fill your heart.

Money can buy a house, but it can't make a home.

Money can pay for your cab to the red-light district, but it can't buy you love.

Send this to twenty people you know need good luck.

Good luck will come to you within 24 hours.

Good luck will come in the mail or through the Internet.

One guy got this message and sent it on within five minutes. The next day he got a new job and had lunch at his favorite restaurant.

Another guy ignored this message. Later that day his grandma beat him half to death with a toilet plunger. With his dying breath he crawled to the computer and sent the message out. His grandma had a change of heart and called 911 and he was resuscitated.

A lady sent this message out within 24 hours of receiving it and the next day she got a check for ONE BILLION DOLLARS.

Some guy deleted this message without reading it. He got dysentery from his favorite restaurant and his mom kicked him out of the basement.

Jack sent this message out and he got a girlfriend and the DRE700 was elected president.

Send this to 20 people and you will have good luck."

Yeah.

R.

Happy Election Day!

2008-11-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

Cast your ballots, people. Today is the day you can make a difference for the world. It's huge the power that is at our fingertips. Viva la democracy. Or viva la republic. Viva la election. Did you know that Hitler had an election (plebiscite) and didn't annex Austria until he had the approval of the people? Just remember this when you vote:

I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your t.v.
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me

Have a grate day! Riotimus

Celebration

2008-11-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the open-ended options that we have before us Riotimus and the fam enjoyed some Roast Beast with Red Potatoes, slathered in Turkey Gravy from the can. I cooked it in the oven instead of the slow cooker, and because I've never done it that way before the Beast was rather dry. Still it was tasty and now is the time for trying new things. Like Nanowrimo.

I saw Toad the Wet Sprocket play this song in an encore a decade ago. They did it beautifully.

R.

Catching the Bullet

2008-10-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

There are innumerable reasons why the Roman Empire grew and just as many for why it collapsed. It is very difficult to back up simple reasons for the things that happened. For example the birth of empire came from the young Republic’s interest in securing peace on its boundaries. That is one argument. I could expound or counter argue that if this were a thesis of some kind instead of a blog post, but that is what it is and I will continue. Indisputably the Romans over-extended their reach and had to rely on conquest for the plunder to support a failing system and an army made up more and more by mercenary tribesman who were more loyal to their own than to any ideology of Rome. Some immigration issues never change.

For administrative reasons the Empire was given two administrative centers, Rome and Constantinople, with the latter taking precedence after Constantinople renamed the city-fortress of Byzantium for himself and set up shop there around 330AD. The Western Roman Empire fell to Germanic invaders while the Eastern Roman Empire waged a thousand-year two-front war. A losing war.

The tide ebbed and flowed, but the trend inexorably led to shrinkage of the Empire, whose people considered themselves Romans until the very end even though the young nations that grew from the corpse of the west considered them Greeks. By the time the end came in 1453, the Byzantine Empire resided completely within the walls of Constantinople, besieged by the Ottoman Turks to whom they had been losing their lands for two-hundred years.

How did it happen? Almost two-thousand years of culture and strife and in the end it came down to a handful of people manning the walls. Was it overextension? Did the leaders fail to look ahead? Did the people place their momentary success and comfort over supporting policies of long-term viability? Was it six-hundred years ago so who gives a damn?

I have complained about the super-corporation that I work for many times here. I even have a label for Corporate Life. A misspelled link that I will correct if I ever figure out how. In the seven years I have worked for this company I have somehow survived three location closures and a dozen layoffs as they have “managed our footprint.” Almost all of those were close calls. Elyena and I started to feel like we were playing Russian roulette. We finally got the loaded chamber. Recently my employer closed almost a hundred operations eliminating three thousand jobs. 3000. 3K. My department, purchasing, has been on eggshells waiting for to see how that would affect us . . . how many of us would be reduced. Yesterday morning my supervisor called a meeting and announced that our entire office is being eliminated with no hope of relocation.

It has been an interesting seven years. In my working lifetime, starting at the age of fourteen, this was the first big corporation that I worked for, and I owe a lot of my education and understanding of the way the world works to it. My previous employers were all family businesses. They left a lot to be desired. One shaved a little off of my time cards like I was too blind to see the eraser marks or too ignorant to know that taking a little off of everyone’s time week after week resulted in saving thousands of dollars a year. Quite respectable for a family business. And there was the one that almost got me killed by taking penny-pinching shortcuts like disconnecting the safety sensor in the seat of an industrial trencher, the end result being that even after I was ran over and had to have knee surgery that I sat in my leg brace and watched while they sent the same machine in the same condition back out on the job.

Through all of this I maintained that it was the family businesses that were so flawed. It is in large part thanks to my expiring employer that instead of the big business loving Republican that I grew up as I am the unrepresented fighter of the invisible aristocracy of America. I used to have the idea that Human Resources are there to look after the employee. The years have helped me to recognize that resources are there to be exploited by the company, human or otherwise, and HR is the vehicle propaganda. I sat in an HR meeting where our rep announced some heinous change the company was making “for our stockholders,” whatever the hell that means.* “The company is not out to screw you,” she said. No it isn’t. It’s not vindictive. It’s just completely apathetic. It’s just business.

Our industry is cyclical and instead of getting ready for the downswing my employers kept gobbling up smaller companies in order to look good to “the stockholders.” It was corporate imperialism at its worst and it left us wide open to the massive collapse of our empire. Their empire. Their influence has helped me become a closet commie. That’s beside the point, though. They were too busy posturing to be ready for the economic situation we are facing. And their employees are paying for it.

It may sound like I am going postal, but I am not. As long time readers know, as well as friends and family, I have long considered my relationship with this company as much a liability as an asset. As of December 5th I will be a free agent. I will find a new job and will have no long-term employment ties to keep me from going to graduate school. So here’s to change: may mine be the only company that tanks in the economy to come, and I promise not to turn this blog into a whining forum. Unless I have another dang clever historical analogy to go with it. Only time will tell.

R.

*I don’t believe in stock holders. I think it is a myth used by boards of directors to do whatever they like. The stockholders are millions of Americans who are dumping money into their 401K plans. So when a company says they are doing something for their stockholders they are at best blowing sunshine but more likely taking advantage of the ignorance of their employees.

Absentee

2008-10-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have been writing a story that pushes beyond anything I have done before. The story is about a man who's been living a normalish life when all of a sudden things start happening to him because of someone he knew growing up. That person has not made (in what I've written so far) nor will he make an appearance in the story. His influence will be throughout the story (or stories). I don't know how well it will work. Have any of you tried such a thing?

R.

Fiction or Non-Fiction

2008-10-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

I’ve decided to do an edition of “Or What?” that deals with what we read. I’ve noticed differences in the way I handle fiction and non-fiction works and that has led me here to ask about reading patterns.

When I crack open a novel I find that I can burn through it in a matter of days even with work and writing and whatever else I’m doing. Some go faster than others; I blasted through Card’s Empire in no time flat, but I’m slogging my way through Madame Bovary after months. I didn’t enjoy Empire, so my reading pleasure isn’t a factor; I suppose it could be the translation factor on a two-hundred year old text. I had the same problem with War and Peace so it is quite possible. However, those are exceptions. Most fiction flies by for me whether I would wish it or not.

Non-fiction is another story. I tend to read a lot of it because being a historian is on my list of aspirations. I’m currently reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Still reading it. It is a monster of a book dwarfing Robert Jordan-sized novels and sporting that tiny text publishers seem to cherish for non-fiction. I think I am a third of the way through it. It is a revelation as to how fast a constitutionally protected nation can in the space of a decade become a dictatorship and police state by the will of a determined person who has cultivated the loyalty of the right thugs. That is all beside the point, though. I read a lot of history and a lot of geography works, along with whatever subject I find I am lacking but need for my stories. It always takes so long to get through, even if it is worth it in the end.

There isn’t much that I don’t read; if I have one area that gets ignored it is contemporary standard fiction. I usually don’t pick up contemporary fantasy or sci-fi either. I don’t have patience to wait years for the next installment only to have the author keel over before completing the series; I’m thinking of Robert Jordan and George RR Martin here. Only Jordan is dead, but everything else applies to Martin. By the time his next volume is done I will have to reread the series to remember what is going on and I’m not sure I’m emotionally up for that. I would have been better off waiting until he finished or died, but it’s too late for that. I tend to lean towards British Lit from the Romantic and Victorian periods. Some of my favorites are pre-WWII American works like All the King’s Men and anything by Willa Cather.

So what kind of things do you read? Is it strictly fiction? Specific genres of fiction? Do you have noticeable patterns when you switch types or genres?

Write On,
R.

Movie Buff

2008-10-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

Okay,I'm not particularly buff and I don't watch that many movies, but if you do I highly recommend the blog A Noble Experiment: Like Prohibition or "The Village". You don't have to enjoy movies either, just have a penchant for dry dark humor with a touch of irony. The author, Gretchzilla ((as in the high end musical instrument manufacturer) or Zilla for short), has a Manga Monday, Theatre Thursday, and numerous observations about life, work, and college in between. So check it out.

R.

Beavis or Butthead

2008-10-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

I felt like doing a presidential "Or What?" so I am slapping down a post I put on my family blog along with my associated comments. Feel free to add to and expound upon it.

Bad News

I can't hold it back any longer. I've seen the future, and it doesn't look good. After the elections this fall . . . politicians will continue running our country. I use the term "running" loosely. Very loosely.

R.

A family member talks about LOTR and how we should remain hopeful.

riotimus said...

Hope for the Presidency would be much easier maintained if it were Aragorn vs. Sauron instead of Grima vs. Denethor. Alas, a lot of us survived the seventies somehow, so who knows what may happen.

R.

A family member comments about being prepared for anything.

riotimus said...
It is good to be ready. Ready for anything. To throw out my analogy again from another angle, I wish that the options were Agent Mulder vs. the Cigarette Smoking Man. But what we've got is Agent Spender vs. Alex Krycek. And some people survived the Holocaust, so we'll probably be fine in the loosest sense of the word.

R.

riotimus said...
Expanding on that even more, I'd like to see Simon Snowlock vs. King Elias instead of Earl Fengbold vs. Skali Sharpnose. But then a lot of people lived through that California trainwreck a few weeks ago, so we'll probably be fine.

R.

Linkin Park or Mansfield Park

2008-10-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

For this installment of “Or What?” I will be offering up California nu-metal rockers Linkin Park up against Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. On the one hand you get that unique amalgamation of pop, rap, and metal that is Linkin Park, and on the other you get one of Austen’s least popular books, maybe the least.

Several years ago I saw a televised performance of Linkin Park. To say that they were sucking it up is an understatement. Chester (blonde guy, does all of the singing and most of the screaming) was all over the place trying to find some semblance of pitch. I was thinking that digital sound manipulation was a handy thing for them. That didn’t stop me from enjoying a lot of their recorded material, and I have heard enough of them sounding good live to think that the sound guy must have forgotten to turn on Chester’s ear plug monitors. I bet he woke up in a dumpster. At least that’s where I fancy I would have put him after being televised with no idea where in the hell my vocals were in the mix. I’ve made a little mix of LP songs for your listening because I know you come here planning to spend a half hour listening to the music I’ve chosen for you.

Mansfield Park was an interesting story listening experience for me. I’ve found that I have a love for Jane Austen books on audio that I never had on paper. It must be the accents. This was a hard one for me though. From the criticism I’ve read of the novel I’m not unique in despising Fanny. I found her to be annoyingly timid and I couldn’t abide all of the cringing. Of course the salt in the wound came at the end of enduring Fanny’s suffering when Austen says that Fanny is the ultimate example of womanly virtue. I would like to have seen what would have happened if Austen had stuck Elizabeth in Mansfield Park. It would have been a much more interesting story. If any of you are suddenly slammed with inspiration and decide to write that story be sure to send me a copy for my reading pleasure.

As far as redemption goes for the Fanny factor there is a little. The amoral Crawford siblings provide some interesting dialogue and intrigue to the book. I think Henry Crawford must have provided Oscar Wilde with at least some inspiration for the illustrious Dorian Gray. There are also some very touching moments, some joyous and some heartbreaking. I have to admit to feeling a lot of satisfaction when the evil Mrs. Norris takes it upon herself to leave Mansfield Park to stay with the shamed slattern Maria. It has quite a happy ending for some of the characters, the ones that aren’t evil.

So . . . would you listen to Linkin Park or read Mansfield Park? Or would you listen to Linkin Park while reading Mansfield Park? That possibly could add a lot to both experiences. Until next time, Write On.

R.

Eye of the World or Eye of the Beholder

2008-10-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am listening to Eye of the World at work. What a thrill to get paid to slog through Robert Jordan. I say that because I'm not afraid of tainting your view one way or the other. So I'll weigh them in.

In his first volume of the Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan throws down some blatant Tolkienisms (thankfully free of Hobbits or any of their renamed ilk) and starts the ball rolling on about a billion loose ends that will have to wrapped up by some guest author since trying to keep them all straight killed him. That was quite irreverent, I know, but it is mild compared to how I felt when I read volume 35 and found him still creating threads instead of tying them off. So we have the collection of stereotypes that make up the cast all in their immature and untried state, though as Aestril once pointed out the woman never stop folding their arms under their breasts no matter how much of the world they see. I'm digressing though. There is occasionally a moment of sincerity between characters that causes my heart to swell. As much as I kvetch about Jordan and his books I'm not sure why I'm listening to this, but I am.

Eye of the Beholder is the first Metallica song that I liked and started the long relationship that I have in the past call "the problem of Metallica." The fade-in intro is beautiful and being the jingoistic patriot that I am I love to hear Hetfield growl, "I hunger after independence, lengthen freedom's ring." Of course he was prophetically speaking about a rights-trampling future government at a time when the W Administration hadn't even been imagined and not aggressive foreign policy as the result of extreme patriotism. But who am I to mince words. Some one crank the Metallica and lets read some Robert Jordan.

R.

Or What?

2008-10-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

I'm going to throw in some posts that I will think of as "Or What?" posts. They will give some eclectic comparisons and readers can sound off or roll their eyes as they will. There will probably never be anything as simple as apples or oranges. But who knows?

I also am seeing more and more of the Word Count Buddies who followed me into hiatus returning to the quill. I'm shamed. Not quite shamed enough to get up and write yet, but shamed none-the-less. So welcome back former slackers; I hope to join you soon.

Good Council

2008-09-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

From The Fellowship of the Ring:

"Then if the Ring cannot be kept from him for ever by strength," said Glofindel, "two things only remain for us to attempt: to send it over the Sea, or to destroy it."

"But Gandalf has revealed to us that we cannot destroy it by any craft that we here possess, said Elrond. "And they who dwell beyond the Sea would not receive it: for good or ill it belongs to Middle-earth; it is for us who still dwell here to deal with it."

"Then," said Glorfindel, "let us cast it into the deeps, [. . .] in the Sea it would be safe."

"Not safe forever," said Gandalf. There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one."

Gandalf would never get elected with that kind of platform.

R.

Mapping a Story

2008-09-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

If you are stuck in your story, whether it be conventional writer's block, a lack of motivation, or just need for clarity, making a map of your world can be a useful and fun way to get things going . . . providing you aren't like me and put that in the first couple of steps when you are generating your ideas. Either way it can be an illuminating project.

It doesn't matter what kind of artistic abilities you have. If you don't believe me pull some of those fantasy books off of your shelf (or the library's) and take a gander at what is there. If you enjoy a story you might not have wasted time giving the map a critical look. There are some amazing stories out there with really bad maps. But that's not the point.

The point can be as simple or as complicated as you desire to make it. Consider the following sub points:

1)Geography is culture.

2)There is a saying among historians: Land divides, water unites.

3)For a lot of fantasy fans, exploring the map of your world and wondering how you came to create it so is almost as fun as the story.

If that is enough for you than get your pencil and go to town. If you need more convincing read on and I will elaborate on the sub points.

1)Geography is culture. Whether you are a disciple of nature or nurture, the fact is that where your character grows up is going to impact his people and their culture. Historical examples abound, but I will try to keep it to a reasonable level and not go all crazy-nerd-historian on you. If I can help it.

A dramatic example would be people of the Steppes. From the dawn of written history, conquerors and destroyers can come out of Asian grasslands to reek havoc on civilizations of both the Mediterranean and the Pacific. Military historians like to carry on about everything they did right; sensitive historians get offended and howl about how they never did anything but destroy and never left any lasting contribution to the lands they overcame. Why they conquered, and why they contributed nothing has a lot to do with geography. The Steppe is a great dry stretch of land, exposed to the worst of all dry elements: heat, wind, cold, and constant drought. The nomadic peoples of this land drive their herds back in forth in search of water and good grazing. Their are no recognized boundaries, only millennium of fighting other tribes for the grass and water necessary to survival. The men hunt continually, making an art of it that converts into perfect war tactics from those earliest records right up until the point when the machine gun finally gives civilizations a weapon with greater range and a faster firing rate than the composite bow of the nomads. Bloodshed and death are a fact of life, a daily event. Because the land won't support them, they learn to carry everything they need with them, drinking blood from the veins of their horses when there is no water to be found. Now throw a catalyst in: a severe draught, a push from more aggressive tribes, an ambitious leader bringing unexpected unity. The nomads come out of the Steppe into civilizations made up of farmers whose excess feed ruling, religious, and artistic classes. Perhaps they have an army so strong it makes its neighbors shudder. The outcome is inevitable, or highly likely based on history. The nomads don't have supply lines; they've brought all of their possessions. The nomads don't have an army; every man capable of the hunt is capable of using the same tactics on the far-less-mobile armies of civilization. And killing is necessary for the nomads survival; it is already learned before they ever encountered the future victims.

So they conquer.

But their geography has created a culture of hunting and fighting. Also inevitably they are either swallowed by the culture they conquered or drift back to the Steppe and the life they knew before. The Huns, Mongols, and Turks all went through this cycle to one degree or another.

I do know how to carry on. If you want more examples I am obviously happy to oblige, but for now I will move on to sub point 2.

2) Land divides, water unites. There are many ways to illustrate this point as well. If you look at the empires of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and others you will see that they were built on the ring of the Mediterranean. The Egyptian Empires all followed the Nile. The Norse culture at one point was active from Constantinople all the way to Vinland (in Canada), all using water even though they had good footholds on Asia and Europe. Speaking of the Norse, look at how using the north/south rivers of what would become Russia a number of them became the Byzantine Emperor's elite Varangian Guard while the Franks were unknown in Constantinople; the difference being that the Franks had no convenient water path, divided as it were by the land mass that alienated Eastern and Western Christianity in the first millennium AD.

3) You probably know all about this one already if you are a fantasy fan. Take heed and give your fans the map they want and need.

I have throw down a lot of theory about why to do a map. In my next post I will talk about some techniques and approaches, as well as things to avoid, ie. my personal pet peeves in other peoples maps. Feel free to take what helps and completely disregard the stuff that doesn't. Write on.

R.

The Conference Call (A Real-life Tale in the Life of Riotimus)

2008-09-18T16:13:00.001-07:00

East-coast Corporate Buyer #1 (ECCB1): Welcome to the California District Purchasing meeting. Let's take roll.

(People of various degrees of importance sound off)

East-coast Corporate Buyer #2 (ECCB2): Well . . . since our last call the market has taken a dump.

ECCB1: It is the same on my end. How are things in the Field?

West-coast Store Manager #1 (WCSM1): blah blah blah

West-coast Store Manager #2 (WCSM2): blah blah blah You guys suck. I think you are trying to put us out of business. blah blah blah

WCSM3, 4, & 5: blah blah blah

WCSM1: I think WCSM2 had a good point. What the hell are you guys doing in your high-backed chairs over there?

ECCB1: Do you want to take that ECCB2?

ECCB2: blah blah blah

WCSM4: Why can't you guys just do things right?

ECCB1: We do things right. blah blah blah Some day you will see why centralized purchasing is best for everybody.

WCSM1, 2, 3, 4, & 5: blah blah blah You guys suck! blah blah blah

Entire Staff of Rocky Mountain Purchasing Group (RMPG): zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

ECCB1: Why don't we turn the time over to ECCB3 for some important information.

ECCB3: If you guys would start doing your jobs this whole system would work like a well oiled machine. You can't sit on your thumbs in the California sun and expect for us to be able to do a good job in the Confederacy.

WCSM1, 2, 3, 4, & 5: blah blah blah with rancor

ECCB1: Uh, do you guys in the RMPG have anything today?

RMPG: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . No. No we don't. Thanks for having us on though.

ECCB1: Let's plan on doing this again next week then.

RMPG: (hits the mute button and collectively groans)

Call duration: 1 hour 27 minutes

Humorous and Historical

2008-08-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

I thought in Theadra's spirit of the 80's that I would share this historical little clip.

Some Light Reading

2008-07-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

I’ve been reading up a storm of late. Here are a few thoughts about what I've gone through in the last couple of weeks.

My Antonia by Willa Cather – brilliant work. I highly recommend it.

Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway – quite a disappointment after the way I felt about For Whom the Bell Tolls (which I think everyone who considers themselves a patriot should read). It had to do with the way he wrote the dialogue.

Lonely on the Mountain by Louis L'Amour – it was another dime-western. It’s a Sackett story, so the characters are interesting for the genre.

Cowboys North and South by Will James – autobiographical, this tells in pure (and disconcerting) cowboy vernacular the state of the cowboy in the early 20th century. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the era or cowboy history and methods.

The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien – I found the first to books thought provoking and inspiring stylistically. The last book and epilogue were an immense disappointment in the harsh language and bitter cynical state of things. And coming from me that should say something.
Also the last book did this thing where it switched from first to third person perspectives by chapter. Lonely on the Mountain did that too, and I did not find that to be a satisfying gimmick in either book.

The Fortunes of War (of the Aubrey/Maturin or Master and Commander series) by Henry O’Brian – these books are incredible. Read them. Read them.

Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini – what these stories lack in depth and originality they make up for in the “Oh Wow” factor for being written by a kid. At least that’s what the New York Times Best Seller list would suggest.

Corpus Christi by Bret Anthony Johnston – This is a collection of moving short stories, beautifully written, and without a happy ending to be found. Stories of “empathy,” I believe BAJ would call them, and I recommend them to anyone who enjoys a bit of melancholy in their fiction.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner – this was written in the “stream of consciousness” method, which to me is a lot like vomiting words on the page and sending it to the publisher. He probably poured over this stuff to make sure it was perfectly dense, though. Thank goodness for Wikipedia. Without the brief explanations they offered there of the time-warping through three different time periods text I don’t know that I would have ever followed it. It is a classic though, and interesting from the perspective of a writer.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque – this is a chilling tale about WWI and the horrors of war. It is one of the rare books I’ve encountered written in the first person present tense. I recommend it to writers just for that reason, and not just because it is an incredible story.

I’ve almost always got more to say, so if you want elaboration or any of that just say so. Write on.

R.

Endgame

2008-07-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

So Season V of Shogun Wars finally came to an end last night. Lackhand and I finished strong, considering that we have played very little for weeks or more. I was quite happy with my final placement in the Hall of Legends, considering that a while back some of my nemesis' clonish henchman decimated over two thirds of my earning capability.

LH and I had moved to the less-populated island of Hokkaido anticipating retaliation for the nimble strike we did on our enemy. He declined to retaliate personally, claiming "strategy" as the reason, but sent his clones after us. They found LH untouchable, but gave me a thrashing. We stayed on Hokkaido, me to lick my wounds, LH for the decline of time-in required to survive. At the end I moved back to Honshu, while LH stayed on Hokkaido.

I promised Elyena to sit this next season out, and I intend to use my extra time for some writing and blogging.

Almost There

2008-07-11T04:54:00.000-07:00

I am on the verge of being back, both to Write On and to the Writer's Union. Thank you all for the support and for not forgetting me.

R.

What of the Muse?

2008-05-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

Dang him. If you believe in him, anyways. I was reading Blog Ing's Writing Log and he was talking about sitting in front of the paper for an extended period without anything coming out. In the mean time Theadra has got more bouncing in her head than she can get down in the time she has.

I fall somewhere in between.

Ing's experience made me think of the problem that we all deal with at some point.

That made me think of something I read at Holly Lisle's site a long time ago. Don't ask me where; as she like to tout, she has over a hundred-thousand words of free writing advice over there. I'm sure one of the other Buddies who has read it all can vouch that what I'm very leisurely getting ready to talk about is, in fact, there somewhere.

Holly has scenes that she has a cute name for - candy scenes? something like that - scenes that she was incredibly excited about writing. She would make them into a reward. When she had written so much tying-together material she would allow herself to write the scene she was so excited about writing before.

I've been doing that a lot with the story I'm working on now. It started in my mind as a few roughly connected scenes that I am trying to turn into a 16k competitor for WotF. I hope you are sending lots of positive writer thoughts this way, because the space between those scenes is going a lot like this: blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Anyways, sometimes thinking of muses is a muse ing. Or a muse Ing. What do I know? If I had written this much for my story tonight I would be this much further along. Hopefully it helps somebody somewhere, if only in the sense of shared empathy. Or something.

Write on.

R.

Observation

2008-05-06T19:08:00.001-07:00

Some people are clever. Some people are prolific writers. Some people are both. At least there is rock and roll for the rest of us.

R.

Leppard on the Loose

2008-05-02T18:41:00.001-07:00

I heard that Def Leppard was releasing a new album and I did some reminiscing about those pop-rockers. There path has been an interesting one. By the time I was old enough to know about the Leppards, they were already the one-armed-drummered-pretty-poster-boys for glam rock. Leather and spandex, ugly guitars, the one-armed drummer - they had it all. I bought Hysteria on cassette at a fair. I wore it out. Then I discovered something very interesting: they had done other albums. How novel. I made a powerful discovery then, one that I will share with you, if you don't already know. In their early years, the Leppards were a driving force in the NWOBHM with the kind of impact that led young bands like an unnamed garage band that would become Pantera to learn and play the album On Through the Night from beginning to end.

So . . . I have put up a new player to the right. It only has three songs. I know you want to know why if they had three albums before Hysteria why I could only find three songs. First off, I tried not to put anything that was remotely a hit on there. Okay, Too Late for Love still gets a lot of air time, but I was desperate. The web site that does the players there did not have a single song from On Through the night. Not a one. I recommend Rock Brigade or Sorrow is a Woman if you want more vintage stuff.

These are just some tunes that might surprise you if thinking of the Leppards instantly makes you start humming Two Steps Behind. Watch out for the B-word in Let It Go, its right in the first verse, but do take note of the fine cow-bell work. The drummer did have both arms in those days. The riff in H&D should speak for itself, and as I already said, TLFL is just a fine tune that leans more towards their old sound than where they were going by Pyromania.

As a sidenote - I have a friend who refuses to listen to Led Zeppelin on moral grounds but thinks the Leppards are swell. Keep that in mind as you enjoy these tunes.

R.

They Got Rhythm

2008-04-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was driving and heard The Wizard by Black Sabbath on the radio. It got me thinking about some of my favorite rhythm section moments.

This is a funny post, I know, because there will inevitably be someone who will read this and think "Those guys suck," but that is why I said favorite and not best. Anyways, knowing that there are many drummers and bassists who are more capable, at least on a technical level, I find that the two rhythm sections that make me wish that I were a drummer or bassist are the killer combos of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward from the early Black Sabbath days and John Paul Jones and John Bonham from Led Zeppelin.

I really tried to find someone who wasn't from the late sixties/seventies, mostly because I wasn't even alive when some of my favorite recordings by these guys were done, but I just couldn't. I've wondered if it was the era - with so much being done that was fresh and rock really breaking with its core building blocks of pop and dance music. Whatever the reason, I find something in the rhythm sections of these two bands that I don't hear, even from bands that are undeniably better.

I have put some songs into my player dealy to the right. It was hard to decide what songs to pick. Actually for Black Sabbath it wasn't bad - The Wizard and War Pigs are probably the most amazing recordings from an amazing duo.

The Zep was tougher because what Bonham and Jones have together is a lot more subtle. To really appreciate what they do I think someone would have to listen to their entire catalog with the intent of not being distracted by Pages "I'm the coolest guitar player in the world so I can get away with having the ugliest guitar tone" noise or Plants crooning.

I chose Good Times, Bad Times mostly because of the bass drum. I've seen drummers try that with double bass and still not pull it off. (You're thinking of Portnoy and suspecting that those drummers must suck. Indeed, they were small timers, but who in the pro scene compares to Portnoy anyways?).

Immigrant Song is an incredible tune; it is probably the most intense of anything Zep did, but at the same time Jones manages to drive some amazingly melodic playing into the choruses.

Whole Lotta Love doesn't have anything in particular, it just rocks and it is short. I've always thought that Page was the king of awesome riffs who should have brought in Clapton or just about anyone else for the lead work. The two exceptions to me (cliche as they may be) are Stairway to Heaven and Whole Lotta Love. So stay tuned through Plant's animal noises in the interlude because the solo right before the song comes back in is a rare moment for Jimmy Page.

R.

House Keeping

2008-04-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have fixed the link to Blog Ing, for those of you who use it, as well as adding a section of links for Word Count Buddies. In this group of links is the page that I am keeping track of my work-in-progress word count. I think that's about it tonight.

R.

One More Thing

2008-04-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Because I know all of my readers need another thing to do. Do any of you submit to Writers of the Future?

For all I know all of you do. If you don't, I think I'd like to throw the idea out there that we do it. It is a contest started by L. Ron Hubbard and carried on by big names like Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, and Kevin J. Anderson. The pot is huge and the winners and top finalists are published in annual editions of Writers of the Future Volume Whatever.

So here is my reasoning in this:

1) It is quarterly, ongoing, and there are no entry fees. That means that there is a deadline every three months to shoot for.

2) It is judged by successful writers, not given-up writers turned editor.

3) It helps establish a habit of getting your stuff together and shipping it out, and building your Resistance to rejection notices. There is more to our business than just being an artist. For more on that I recommend Holly Lisle's site which is packed with eye-opening info about the business from someone very particular about their status as a "full-time writer."

The longest works that they accept are 17000 word novellas, and I have the impression that most of the word buddies are working on novels. I will share two thoughts and then mind my own business. As much as I am able anyways. First, Ender's Game was originally published as a novella and later expanded into the very successful novel that it is. No, that had nothing at all to do with WoTF, but it goes to show that sometimes it is easier to get a foot in the door with a less risky smaller piece than a novel. Second, hugely successful writer George R.R. Martin says on his website that if he were trying to break into the fantasy author scene that he would start sending short stories to the many short-works fantasy publishers out there, and that after getting a few of those published the big presses would be begging for a novel. I might also point out that Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series was preceded with a novella which introduced readers and publishers to his world.

On the downside, I do get e-mails from them regularly offering me deals-of-a-lifetime on back issues of the books, but they aren't that bad. The other thing is that I bought a few volumes and did some very crude word count calculations and I found that virtually all of their published stories fell between 15 and 17k, and there were none shorter than 12k in the volumes I picked up. So besides the habitual skin-thickening benefits I mentioned earlier, if you actually want to win you have to get your story as close to the 17k limit as possible without going over and without crappy filler.

I obviously am not there yet, but in the most prolific writing period of my life I worked around the quarterly deadlines (March 31, June 31, September 31, and December 31) to keep my momentum. I actually had a four-step submission plan where I sent the new story to WoTF first, then another publisher next, a third, and finally a fourth as it was rejected to keep my name out there and increase my odds at selling some stories. It was just as I really got the system working that I reached critical mass with school and turned all efforts into completing my bachelor's degree. Now I am thinking about getting back into that and would like to invite you all to come along.

R.

Really Writing

2008-04-12T20:15:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm really not the slacker I've seemed to be. Technically challenged perhaps. Poor in regards to communication perhaps. But I have been writing. Today I did 105 words for a total so far for this story of 727. One day Liz and I will get this password thing worked out and I won't be the only Word Count Buddy sporting a big fat zero.

R.

100+

2008-04-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

I think about 116 today. For this story total 511 so far.

R.

Early Start

2008-04-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

I got up early and did some job work, and then I wrote another 175ish words for the story I started yesterday. Very satisfying.

R.

The New Story

2008-04-08T19:34:00.001-07:00

Today I started a new story, and surprisingly enough, it didn't start out with a name. Very unusual for me. Anyways, 126 words on it today.

I have a question and I don't know if this crowd has an answer, I obviously don't, or I wouldn't have to ask. I have three stories (including the one I just finished) about the cowboy-turned-dude-wrangler Hobb and his adventures from his teens into his young adult life. One is about the loss of a horse, another about taking a herd of horses where they never should have gone, and the last about drag racing and ditching cops. Any suggestions for where to send them? For all that Hobb is a cowboy they aren't really cowboy stories, but maybe they would be considered to be by the masses. Any tips would be welcome, as I'm ready to start adding to my collection of rejection slips now that I'm out of school. Speaking of rejection letters, did anyone read that essay that I linked in my NULC post? As a receiver of many rejections I found it very helpful. Hope everyone is writing their guts out. As soon as I get my login stuff for the Word Counter's page I will start logging my word counts there. Really. I will.

R.

Back in the Drivers Seat

2008-04-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

I was going to say back in the saddle, but since this story was about drag racing, the seat seemed more appropriate. So there was a misunderstanding a few posts back where people got the idea the I'd finished the Railhead story, but it is finished now.

Final word count for the first draft: 1581.

Don't forget to check out the "mammoth post" about the NULC below. It is full of semi-helpful stuff, and it is what I spent days writing instead of finishing Railhead.

R.

Offerings From the NULC

2008-04-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

Today began the National Undergraduate Literature Conference. I decided to submit even though I 1) graduated in December (found that this does not break the rules) and 2) had missed the deadline by several days. Did I let that stop me? Not after being shut down by them last year. So having learned my lesson about genre-bigotry I submitted, lately as I mentioned, my story Last Dance of which I have referred in posts past. Despite these things the story, ungenred as it was, had no problem getting me in.

Since most of my readers are aspiring writers, I have decided to put down the things that I learn and the things the authors said at the NULC here and hopefully you will get something worthwhile from them. Or maybe you will just end up reading big long stories about how cool I think everything is. Okay, here we go.

Eleanor Wilner

The convocation was given by Eleanor Wilner, a celebrated poet. She spoke of what in the States we derisively refer to as “political poetry,” but that in Russia is fondly called “citizen’s poetry.” In other words, poetry that is concerned with social and political wrongs. She said that the poet’s trade is in words, and because of that the poet has a responsibility to make sure that the right words are being applied i.e. that a duck is being called a duck and not an amphibious feathered bird of interest. You get the idea, I’m certain. She read stirring poems by (forgive me for not being up on the poet scene) important poets in the fight for truth regarding the state of our affairs in the world. It was filled with rhetoric, but very powerful and if I didn’t feel like a poem’s power lay in its syntax I would try to paraphrase some of the poems that she used in her speech. In referring to violence in writing (she was referring to poetry specifically) she quoted the great writer Willa Cather (in a quote that I can’t seem to find on the internet to get right, so you’ll have to suffer with my paraphrase) saying that it is the thing unmentioned (not shown?) that is haunting. I think of the powerful climax in Oh! Pioneers and I would say she knew just how much to put in to make that scene linger, even without graphic detail. Wilner spoke of how even though there are very few now who believe that we are at war for the reason the government tells us that we are at war that “silence is consent.” She may have been quoting someone else on that, but I only recall the message.

Today she did a reading of her own poetry. One poem that she read was called, I think, “The Muse.” She introduced it by reminding the audience of the Gordian Knot, the person by whom it could be untied being worthy to rule the world. When faced with the Knot, Alexander of Macedonia, called the Great, pulled his sword and cleaved the knot in twain “setting the precedence for Western problem solving ever sense.”

Geoffrey Wolfe

At the Banquet, Mr. Wolfe read a monologue set as a presentation to a Senate committee in the not too distant future where as an investigative reporter, at that point “a person of interest,” was being forced under duress to answer the question “How did we get here?” in regards to the stripping away of civil rights in the name of defense against the elusive enemy, terrorists. He did not do much by way of explaining his craft, just read the monologue which thoroughly disturbed most everyone in the room for one reason or another.

Bret Anthony Johnston

Two years ago Lackhand and I went to the NULC together and met BAJ. If anything I say here seems unbelievable, LH can probably vouch for the apparent character of the author based on our shared experience with him at that time. He has written a highly acclaimed and very moving collection of short stories called Corpus Christi and is the Director of Creative Writing at Harvard.

Yesterday as I was walking out from the Convocation a few minutes early to catch my ride, there was BAJ talking to someone in the hall. He stopped his conversation and, offering his hand, said, “Hey, it’s Riotimus, isn’t it?” Yeah, in real life I am riotimus too. Actually I think riotimus may be a state of mind as well as a historical figure, but I digress. So he says he saw my name in the program and that it is good to see me again. The timing of this was great, because I had just been felling nettled about coming on time to an event (an event that I was dropped off for and had to meet my ride at the specified ending time, hence my leaving on time when the event was not over; I digress again) so I was on time and feeling a little vexed by the way the Conference Coordinator and the authors were sitting exclusively in the front row being important as the clock ticked on. The earnest friendliness of BAJ forced me to abandon my conclusion that success and becoming a self-important chump were inevitably linked.

Doing the play by play is making me weary, so I am going to just try to nail the main points. After all, earlier I said 'today' but since I’ve been working on this for three days I don’t know which ‘today’ it was. I had the opportunity to spend a decent amount of time with BAJ at the conference. I found him to be earnest, encouraging, and much less impressed with himself than the far-less-successful Conference Coordinator. I was going to write out some of the conversations we had as evidence of my conclusion, but you’ll just have to take my word for it and corroborate it with Lackhand’s experience with him two years ago.

BAJ spoke at the luncheon after the Conference Coordinator talked about how much work and sacrifice it is if we want to be a writer. BAJ took the podium and said, “I must humbly disagree with [Conference Coordinator]. You already are writers.” He went on to say that it is the act of writing that makes a writer, not number of published works or money generated by works, etc. He went on to say that he doesn’t believe in talent, inspiration, or the muse—he believes in work (or [butt] in chair time], that writing is a vocation, an act of witness, and that there is nothing more important that we can do. He then read his essay On Rejection; or Dear Author, After Careful Consideration a very humorous look at the not-so-humorous facts of writing and rejection.

At a reading later in the day, he talked about how the story needs to be greater than the author, and that the “story that turns out the way the author intended it to sucks.” Regarding character, he said that the two most important things to know about your characters is what they want, and what they’ve lost. He likes to try to see the world through his character’s eyes, then put them in a vice until either they or the vice break.

Question and Answer

The NULC ended with a Q&A, which I will write about today, 'today' meaning the fourth 'today' involved in recording my thoughts and observations about the conference. Different students asked questions, some of which either the questions or the answers were not worth transcribing here, but those that I found helpful or thought could be encouraging to the writers that read Write On I am going to put down. The author’s answers are paraphrased unless in quotes. Here it goes:

What tips do you have for young writers?

BAJ: Establish a writing habit. It takes 21 days to establish one, so get to where on the 22 day if you don’t write it all feels wrong. Read what you want, write what you want. (I have to insert here that the previous question which I did not bother with here was about what they read. Their answers varied, but BAJ said that if he came across a subject that was completely without interest to him that he would seek out information on the subject to find out what about it was uninteresting. In this way, he said, he “has come up with many story ideas in a mercenary kind of way.”

EW: “It’s like that verse in the Bible about how “habit is the chain that ties the dog to its own vomit.” Or maybe I changed that one to suit my own purposes. Change is a constant in the human condition and I am terrified of habit.”

GW: All the writers he knows that are glad they are writers are voracious readers. Have patience. Work to be in a state that when you finish a story you ask yourself, “How can I make this better?” Don’t believe in “sample prophecy;” meaning don’t take the failure of one story (either personal dissatisfaction or rejection for editor/publisher) as a prophecy of all things to come with your writing.

EW after hearing GW’s answer: Read. We learn from osmosis. Listen to the world around you and to other people. I think that she was talking about catching the details having awareness of what is going on in the world, not letting others constantly change your direction; I base that on the fact that even though she is a poet what she mostly reads are political rags and newspapers, and if you find a sample of her poetry you will see that she has no fear of being outspoken.

Does a writer have to have connections to get published?

BAJ: “A writer has to believe that good work will find an audience.” Connections aren’t necessary. Literary journals always want to claim they’ve found the next big thing, so they are a good place to start for the unpublished. If you have some unknown publications, that should at least build your confidence, which is a key ingredient to making it as a writer. BAJ came to the NULC 13 years ago and author Ron Carlson was one of the authors. Carlson said that “If you do anything for fifteen years you will succeed.” BAJ took the challenge and published his first book in ten. He talked about a line from the movie, The Shootist, in which someone tells John Wayne’s character that if he would wear his holster in a different place he could draw faster. I couldn’t find the quote online, but the response was something like, “You don’t have to be fast, you just have to not miss . . . “ Wherever the Duke was going with that, BAJ said that you don’t have to be a fast writer, you just have to show up and write every day.

EW: Don’t worry about publications. We are young still. Learn and write and try new things. Learn the craft. Don’t worry about what publishers and editors want, just find your voice.

Do you outline?

GW: He does a course chronological outline on 3x5 cards (and then, and then, and then . . .) then he mixes them up and puts them back together in “a more cohesive way.”

BAJ: Outlines stifle. “Writing is an act of discovery.” The novel he is currently working on had a six-hundred page first draft. The second draft he cut to three-hundred-and-fifty pages without missing anything. It has four distinct story lines, so he took a different colored sticky note for each story line and put a sticky note on some poster board for each of the lines. If there is a clump of yellow, he will mix in some pink, etc. However, that is after a complete draft or two have been completed.

How can writers contribute to the world?

EW: “Use what you have, say what you think.”

BAJ: He doesn’t believe in theme. He believes in stories of empathy, and that what the writer can offer the world is to engage in an act of empathy on the page.

GW: He quotes writer Stanley Elkin as saying that writing is “revenge against bullies,” and said that writing can offer a correction of balance. To illustrate this he talked about how good stories are about the underdog, not the top dog and the writer can level the playing field.

How do you make a living as a writer?

BAJ: Very few fiction writers don’t have a day job. He teaches. There have been times that he has made enough to not have to work, but he is good for five or six hours of writing. After that he said he would just be hanging out with other writers talking about writing, so why not do it in a classroom setting. As a writer, make a living any way you can that won’t keep you from writing.

Last tips?

BAJ: Don’t let anyone convince you that writing is an indulgence. We write because of our fascination with twenty-six letters and the combinations that only we can come up with.

GW: “Do not be suckers.”

Conclusion

So sharing this has ended up being a more massive undertaking than I initially envisioned, but it was good to recollect the things I saw and heard. I hope that all of you take some tip or encouragement away from this. If you have any questions about something that I didn’t address fully or anything really, please ask.

I have to thank Elyena for all of her support and encouragement, and for making it possible for me to have attended the NULC. I would also like to thank the Word Counter’s Union for their presence and impatience here as I get my bearings back. With this post done, I will get back to my fiction.

Write on.

Riotimus

Where Have I Been?

2008-04-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I went into work and found out that half of the staff was going to spend this week in California doing training for some delinquent stores. Where was my memo? Dog ate it? Well, it basically meant that the number of stores that I purchase for doubled, and I am still new at my job. It has been a week of unparalleled suckiness. I hope the Word Counter's Union was not too abandoned by my absence. I know from the comments that I was missed. I think I am back now. At least I will be after the NULC.

R.

150 or So

2008-03-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

I closed my story and I'm too weary to open it again for the actual numbers, but it is growing. I think it will be done in two or three more days. By done I mean written to the end, not ready to be sent out for publication or anything. Thank you all for your support and welcome to the new . . . faces? Names? Still haven't wrapped my mind around blog etiquette just yet.

R.

Got my 100, barely

2008-03-23T19:31:00.001-07:00

115 today
743 total for this story.

R.

Three Points, or Maybe Four/ MS&T II

2008-03-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

It will depend on how many I recall by the time I am done with this post.

1) I wrote 300 words this morning, moving right along with the Railhead story.

2) Where can I get one of those daily word count dealies that the Word Count Unioners all have on your pages?

3) You might wonder how I could be ranked so highly in my Shogun Wars posts and continually falling in the the link at the top of my page. The answer is that right now Shogun Wars has two games going: Genshu and Pheonix [sic]. Genshu is getting my main efforts, Pheonix [sic] is getting maintenance. Therefore I'm holding onto the top ten in Genshu and sinking like a stone in Pheonix [sic]. Perhaps the day will come when I do well in both. I'm not going to hold my breath.

4) Notice the nifty little music player to the right. I got it from my brother Zilla's new blog and loaded it with some of the music that I spoke of in my 25 album post a while back. If you haven't heard any of those songs I recommend taking a listen.

5) I finished The Dragonbone Chair. In update to my last post, I noticed that Binibak keeps dragging Simon along, but it is not because he is known to be the secret hier of the world, but because Binibak feels obligated to fulfill Dr. Morgenes request that he be looked after.

That's it for now. Write on.

R.

100 Word a Day Challenge

2008-03-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

I've been reading about this challenge for several days and been wondering if I am up for the commitment. I still don't know, but I'd like to find out. Therefore, I am going to participate. I didn't want to post until I'd written something, and I got a little over-excited and did 320 words instead of a hundred, but hopefully I erred in the right direction. I will be writing some more short stories for now - still not ready to become immersed in the novel at this point, but I figure that as long as I'm writing, that is the important thing.

Tonight I worked on the intro to a story called Birthday at the Railhead, another Hobb in his youth story. So far I have the young lads crammed into a pickup throwing around some insulting banter. My brother Zilla might recall the real-life experience from which I'm pulling some of the setting for the story.

I feel like I am a fringer here not knowing anybody in the Union but Daeruin, but with any luck I will "airn" my place therein.

And a thank you to Ing for the kind words and quote over on Blog Ing. Write on.

R.

It can happen to anyone . . .

2008-03-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Even Riotimus. A moment of glory some time starting around 5am but definitely over by 8:30 caught forever by the handy snipping tool. You might also notice that we had three in the top twenty, a wonderful moment for the League.

Shogun Wars 3/6/08

2008-03-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

The League has 7 players in the top 100. It's true. If you don't believe me, you'll have to sign up and find out.

MS&T I

2008-03-02T08:22:00.000-08:00

For a long time while I was trying to get through school I have wanted to re-read Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. These are great books that take common fantasy concepts and smash them with a smithy's hammer. For those of you that are reading Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, he claims that it was MS&T that renewed the belief that good adult fiction could be written today. I am going to try to post the occasional thought, quote, or insight from these books as I read them. I should have started doing this when I first cracked open volume I, The Dragonbone Chair, but I didn't, so you will get a couple of ideas crammed into one post. But who am I kidding - that is probably the way all of these posts will be.

My first thought will be regarding the main protagonist, Simon. He is a dislikable young man. That is how I have been thinking of him. But then I asked myself, "Self, what is your issue with young Simon?" I realized that he is just too real for comfort. He thinks things, says things, does things like everyone I know did when they were young (I was trying there to avoid using myself for the example, but I think it is true based on my observations). His foolishness creates a sense of discomfort and embarrassment as I remembered doing similarly ridiculous things.

The thing that impresses me about this tale is that even though Simon is the "hero," he doesn't get the help that are the mainstay of much fantasy. No one is looking out to protect his secret heritage (ala the Belgariad) or pushing him into a quest (ala the Shannara series) or hunted because of his special powers (ala Wheel of Time). On the whole the only consideration he gets is from Doctor Morgenes who had a fondness for his deceased parents, everyone else is fairly apathetic to his existence and what he does with his time. He does end up with the guide in the form of Binibak the troll, but since Binibak doesn't know what is going on either I don't put that on the level with Gandalf, Allanon, Belgaroth, or many others who are filled with secret knowledge and power. In TDC the guides don't hide information and speak cryptically because the are supposed to be mysterious, they simply don't have any answers. The major events of this book that will have repercussions through the series are all results of his own decisions, at least at 2/3's way through. It has been a long time since I read these last, so I will try not to say too many things that are wrong because I've forgotten what happens later.

Now for a little quote from Tiamak the Wrannaman, who is pondering the gods and his unbountiful hunt that leaves him eating root soup: "As he climbed the long ladder from his moored boat to the little house perched in the banyan tree, Tiamak vowed to be content with soup and a biscuit. Gluttony was an obstacle, he reminded himself, an impediment between the soul and the realms of truth. As he reeled the ladder up onto the porch he thought of She Who Birthed Mankind, who had not even had a nice bowl of root soup, but had subsisted entirely on rocks and dirt and swamp water until they combined in her stomach and she whelped a litter of clay men, the first humans."

So what does that make the humans? Tiamak doesn't say, but Williams has given us a good hint, has he not? Oh, the irony. I didn't know that was considered whelping.

A Little Writing News

2008-02-26T18:11:00.001-08:00

I got word last weekend that my story "Last Dance" about the cowboy-turned-dude-wrangler Hobb was accepted into the National Undergraduate Literature Conference. It was good news especially since I had just finished another Hobb story called "The Cliff." It feels good to do some writing again.

R.

Because You Care . . .

2008-02-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

About how the fearless Shogun Riotimus is doing. I knew it, so here you go.

Thanks for caring,