The Summer Reading List, 2018

Sketch in My Notebook

Though we’ve done book and TV reviews since this blog’s inception, the Summer Reading List Project didn’t formally get its start until 2016.  That first List was very successful, both in the sense that my friends enjoyed participating and because I myself found a bunch of books that I quite enjoyed reading.  I’ve done a few additional Lists in the months since, but none of those have informed my actual summer reading in the same way.  Mostly, they’re just been lists of related books that I put together as part of the Project’s archives.

This year, however, I’m actually looking for something to read.  Like you, I have my favorites.  But it seems like a lot of my favorite authors aren’t publishing right now, and here we are.

Story Re-Write: Centurion Six (Opening Only)

Sketch in My Notebook

This is the "revised" opening for "Centurion Six," tentatively scheduled for part of the short story anthology I've been working on.  I feel like I've been struggling it, though.  I am therefore hanging it out to ask for a couple of opinions.

Centurion Six

In the near future, genetic mutation has become the weapon of choice in an increasingly chaotic world.  Easier to hide and cheaper by far to develop and control than the nuclear and chemical weapons programs of a previous era, soon every tin-pot dictator, cult-leader, and agenda-based non-state actor on the planet begins developing “ultra-human” capabilities.  Against the proliferation of politically violent “supermen”, mundane humans--so-called ”mundies”--can offer little defense.

Sketch in My Notebook: Marcus the Dispossessed

This week's Sketch in My Notebook is literally that.  I have no idea what to do next with this story.  At this point, it's just a character/concept sketch that I started by way of supporting an article for ENWorld's EN5ider Magazine.

Sketch in My Notebook

EN5ider is an online magazine that publishes freelance Dungeons & Dragons content under Wizards of the Coasts' Open Gaming License (OGL).  My article, which ought to be out any day now, is called "Priests of Misfortune".  It proposes a divine trinity of fate and the future--Fate, Fortuna, and Jinx, the goddess of misfortune.  It then goes into detail on the theology of Jinx and her priests while laying out what it takes to become favored of the goddess of calamity.

As you may imagine, I had some fun inventing my own religion.

I then invented this character, Marcus the Dispossessed, as a Jinxian priest, but...  Well, I just can't figure out what I want him to do.  Something nefarious, no doubt, but I've no idea what, exactly.

Got some thoughts?

Do me a favor, and leave them below.  Thanks!

The Bounty Hunter: A Cahokiantep Story (Part 2)

Sketch in My Notebook

This is the second part of three for this story.  The first part is here.  You can find backstory on Cahokiantep here.

***

Most of the Pony’s patrons made way.  The voltans watched me come.  They didn’t move towards their pikes, though.  That was something.  The center voltan wore a blue sash with silver trim—the mark of a warrior-caste princeling.  I’d never fought a princeling before.  I figured the others for bodyguards.

The leader’s voice was deep and liquid, but his Basic was unaccented.  “What do you want, human fool?  Have you come to die on my blade?”

The Bounty Hunter: A Cahokiantep Story (Part 1)

“Cahokiantep is no more.  The city, the surrounding farms, the very bedrock itself… all of this is gone.  There are no ruins; the city wasn’t destroyed.  It has simply vanished.  

“What remains is indescribable.  It is a hole—a crater—more massive than mere words can convey.  Malthanisys calculated its depth at a distance of some five miles at least.  It reaches across the breadth of the city and beyond, into the sea.  We could scarce see the far side of the thing, even whilst standing at the edge on the clearest day.  

“We found an outland shepherd yesterday.  He spoke of a flash of blue lightning and a tremor to shake the worlds.  In his ravings, he whispered a name—Belarisarius, a being he calls ‘the Astral Dragon’.  None know this name, not even Malthanisys.  

“We will continue searching, but I fear that there are few answers to be found.”

 -- Sir Gustav Plantagaryean, from his report on the “Cahokiantep Incident” to the Royal Court of Wanderhaven, Kingdom of the Western Isles

Sketch in My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis--Chapter 15 (Part 2)

Frank McGuinness, the man who was once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, robbed a bank, and got away with it.  He took a hostage named Chelsea.  Meanwhile, his former partner, the Russian super-criminal known only as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disruptor, wrapped around his head.

Against them stand Army Lieutenant Blaine Winters, the new Centurion of the N.Y. State National Guard's Enhanced Forces Division (EFD), and FBI Agent Tiffany Trujillo, once the superhero Titania. These two went with a SWAT team to confront the Siberian Tiger and Gun Girl Gracie at a bank heist in Brooklyn, but they got their asses kicked. Tiffany wound up in the hospital, a bunch of SWAT officers died, and Blaine would have died too if not for the prodigious gifts associated with his extraordinary genetic heritage.

Blog in Review: Top 20 Posts of 2015

I enjoy this blog quite a bit, but it can be frustrating, too.  A certain tension exists between the subject matter that I personally enjoy and the stuff that I know will bring in readers.  This is nothing new.  I’ve known for years that the parts of my own work that I myself prefer are only rarely favorites of others.  By contrast, I’ve written things that I think are obvious or pointless and had literally hundreds of people tell me how amazing they are.  This is one of the reasons why I write a lot.  I never know what’s going to strike a chord with others.

Very occasionally, I’ll write something that I like that other people also really like, and those are the days—rare though they may be—that make me love writing.  In the meantime, I hope to balance the need to write what I enjoy with what I think other people want to read.  

This list seeks that same balance.  It chronicles a very good year of blogging.

Sketch in My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis--Chapter 15 (Part 1)

Frank McGuinness, the man who was once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, robbed a bank, and got away with it.  He took a hostage named Chelsea.  Meanwhile, his former partner, the Russian super-criminal known only as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disruptor, wrapped around his head.

Against them stand Army Lieutenant Blaine Winters, the new Centurion of the N.Y. State National Guard's Enhanced Forces Division (EFD), and FBI Agent Tiffany Trujillo, once the superhero Titania. These two went with a SWAT team to confront the Siberian Tiger and Gun Girl Gracie at a bank heist in Brooklyn, but they got their asses kicked. Tiffany wound up in the hospital, a bunch of SWAT officers died, and Blaine would have died too if not for the prodigious gifts associated with his extraordinary genetic heritage.

Sketch in My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis (Chapter 14)

Sketch in My Notebook

Frank McGuinness, the man who was once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, robbed a bank, and got away with it. Meanwhile, his former partner, the Russian super-criminal known only as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disruptor, wrapped around his head.

Against them stand Army Lieutenant Blaine Winters, the new Centurion of the N.Y. State National Guard's Enhanced Forces Division (EFD), and FBI Agent Tiffany Trujillo, once the superhero Titania. These two went with a SWAT team to confront the Siberian Tiger and Gun Girl Gracie at a bank heist in Brooklyn, but they got their asses kicked. Tiffany wound up in the hospital, a bunch of SWAT officers died, and Blaine would have died too if not for the prodigious gifts associated with his extraordinary genetic heritage.

This week, we flash back to 2003...

Sketch in My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis (Chapter 13, Part 3)

Frank McGuinness, the man who was once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, robbed a bank, and got away with it. Meanwhile, his former partner, the Russian super-criminal known only as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disruptor, wrapped around his head.

Against them stand Army Lieutenant Blaine Winters, the new Centurion of the N.Y. State National Guard's Enhanced Forces Division (EFD), and FBI Agent Tiffany Trujillo, once the superhero Titania. These two went with a SWAT team to confront the Siberian Tiger and Gun Girl Gracie at a bank heist in Brooklyn, but they got their asses kicked. Tiffany wound up in the hospital, a bunch of SWAT officers died, and Blaine would have died too if not for the prodigious gifts associated with his extraordinary genetic heritage.

Now Blaine is left to carry on the investigation by himself, while Tiffany recovers in the hospital...

Sketch in My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis (Chapter 13, Part 1)

Sketch in My Notebook

Frank McGuinness, the man who was once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, robbed a bank, and got away with it.  Meanwhile, his former partner, the Russian super-criminal known only as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disruptor, wrapped around his head.  

Against them stand Army Lieutenant Blaine Winters, the new Centurion of the N.Y. State National Guard's Enhanced Forces Division (EFD), and FBI Agent Tiffany Trujillo, once the superhero Titania.  These two went with a SWAT team to confront the Siberian Tiger and Gun Girl Gracie at a bank heist in Brooklyn, but they got their asses kicked.  Tiffany wound up in the hospital, a bunch of SWAT officers died, and Blaine would have died too if not for the prodigious gifts associated with his extraordinary genetic heritage.

Now Blaine is left to carry on the investigation by himself, but it feels like he's chasing ghosts...

Sketch in My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis (Chapter 12, Part 2)

When last we left Frank McGuinness, the man who was once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, he'd been angry.  His former partner, the Russian super-criminal known only as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disruptor, wrapped around his head.  Determined to take back what was his, Frank escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility and made his way to an old safe house in the South Bronx.

Now Frank finds himself in a bank with police surrounding the building.  He's come for some simple walking around money, but after six years out of the game, even the easy things have become difficult.  As the police close in, Frank and his unwitting accomplish Chelsea must make their escape.

Sketch In My Notebook: The Return of Dr. Necropolis (Chapter 12, Part 1)

Sketch in My Notebook

When last we left Frank McGuinness, once the notorious super-criminal Dr. Necropolis, he'd been angry.  His former partner, the Russian super-villain known as the Siberian Tiger, resurfaced after years underground, with both Frank's ex-wife, Gun Girl Gracie, on his arm and Frank's greatest creation, the Neural Disrupter, on his head.  Determined to take back what was his, Frank escaped from Sing Sing Correctional Facility and made his way to an old safehouse in the Bronx.

Now Frank finds himself in a bank with police on the way.  He'd come for some simple walking around money, but after six years out of the game, even the easy things have become difficult.

I don't blame you if you don't remember this one.  The old chapters are archived in the Sketch in My Notebook tab of this blog.  Check it out if you get interested in the story...

Sketch in My Notebook: Wolfgang & Salamatu

The only reason I'm labeling this a "Sketch in My Notebook" piece is so that my regular readers will realize that it isn't finished piece.  It's part of this series, but it's a re-write.  I hope you guys don't mind.  I started with the piece a few months ago.  In theory, it's the first chapter for the next Sneax book, but it's kind of romance, and until I started this, I'd never written a romance.  Or even just part of one.  Hence the extended experimentation.

I don't usually post a whole chapter at once.  I'm doing it this time because I wanted to get some feedback on the full flow of the idea; I wanted folks to see how it all comes together in a single sitting.  For what it's worth, my goal for this story is a little different than it has been on some of the other Wanderhaven tales.  If the "Sneax & Elaina Emboo" stories are campfire stories told about the fantasy versions of my daughters, this story is more a fantasy retelling of my marriage.  It's my story, and it's Sally's story.

We met and got married.  This is our story, but it didn't happen exactly like this, obviously.

Sketch in My Notebook: Nathan Bedford Stuart, USMC

My buddy and I started working on a new story last week.  We started from a mutual friend's Facebook post about how there aren't a lot of dystopian fantasies involving a world in true chaos.  Instead, said our friend, it's much more common to see dystopian worlds where Big Government rules, quashing all independent thought and liberty.  We see a lot more stories in the vein of Fahrenheit 451 or 1984 than we do Mad Max.

This led to last week's post, 24 Causes of the End of the World, which was the result of a day's brainstorming on potential high concepts for this new would-be story about a world in chaos.

Sketch in My Notebook: The Order of the Blackened Glaive (Part 6)

Our story so far...

Drakar has been forced from the Sentralian Military Academy because of his half-demon heritage.  However, angels of the goddess Nyx visited him in a dream, commanding him to seek out Fortress Abbadabas and the fabled Order of the Blackened Glaive.  Drakar traveled south to the city of Jakara, where he met a girl--a young wizard named Elaina Emboo.  Having saved her from certain death, the two of them now travel together.

***

Drakar is not surprised when Elaina Emboo decides to accompany him.  He has already seen the fire that she possesses, and it takes no great insight to conclude that she will hardly allow him to enter danger alone on her behalf.  He is pleased, but ultimately, her help is irrelevant.  This is not about Elaina, nor is it about her money.  Drakar feels a need within himself to punish the man who wronged her--a man she called Safras--and that is enough.  What he did is inexcusable.  A girl is alone in a foreign land; she is robbed and then set upon by a mob with stones.  Perhaps Elaina is a special case because she is not just some helpless female, but the fact is that she would have been killed had not Drakar intervened.  

Sketch in My Notebook: The Order of the Blackened Glaive (Part 4)

Our story so far...

Having been forced from the Sentralian Military Academy, Drakar heads south on the ship Koraph's Delight, searching for the mysterious Fortress Abbadabass, home of the Order of the Blackened Glaive.

***

The Order of the Blackened Glaive

Part 4

Koraph’s Delight makes landfall the next morning.  Captain Koraph is no longer with the ship, but in his absence, the rest of the men have proven easy to manage.  Drakar reclaims his purse from Koraph’s cabin, leaving what he feels is a fair wage for his passage but claiming a share of Koraph’s strongbox as payment for his troubles during the journey.  He divies the rest of the coin out to the sailors, who are pathetically grateful to receive it.  The cabin boy weeps and asks to accompany Drakar, but of course, there can be no room for a child on the road to Fortress Abbadabas.  Drakar takes his leave of the ship without looking back, though he can feel the eyes of the sailors upon him as he descends the gangplank.  He thinks that perhaps he has done these men a service, though they will struggle for awhile without Koraph’s hand to guide them.

Their struggles are irrelevant.  Drakar has his own goals and his own concerns, and he cares little for the fates of men too weak to free themselves from the persecution of a man like Koraph.  Somewhere ahead lies the Order of the Blackened Glaive.  These are men made of sterner stuff, and it is with them that Drakar will find his fate.

Sketch in My Notebook: The Order of the Blackened Glaive (Part 3)

Following an attack by Magister Zachaes, Drakar must leave the Academy.  His dreams tell him that his road is south, towards Fortress Abbadabas and the Order of the Blackened Glaive.

***

The Order of the Blackened Glaive

Part 3

Sentralia City is a big place.  Founded on a ring of seven hills surrounding the outlet of the Sentra River, it has long been the capital of an empire of men.  The ancient empire fell at the end of the Age of Legends, but this new empire, the Holy Sentralian Empire, grew from the ashes of the old at the end of the Kings’ War.  The Duchy of Sentra was overrun many times during that war, leading Grand Duke Baden Sentra to stand in desperate spiritual contemplation at the holy temple of the Twelve in what was then called the city of Sentra.  He was at last overcome, and legend has it that in this state he had a vision.  A blazing spear appeared in the sky, and the voice of Mars, bringer of conquest, spoke:

“By this you will conquer, in my name.”

Sketch in My Notebook: The Order of the Blackened Glaive (Part 2)

Last week, we left Drakar in the middle of a dream-like state, talking with the dark angels of Nyx, the mother of night.  He has heard the Call to Adventure.  This week he enters the Unknown World.

***

The Order of the Blackened Glaive

Part 2

Drakar wakes with a start.  He is in his bed, and his room is dark, but this is no hinderance to one whose blood courses with the fell power of the Pit.  Fire flares around his eyes, and the darkness falls away.  He looks around, sees that his roommate’s bunk is empty, and then he is out of bed and scrambling for his sword and shield.  His fingers grasp the hilt, but he has not yet set his shield when his door flies open, and there stands Magister Zachaes, fully armored, a long red glaive held in his hands.

Sketch in My Notebook: The Order of the Blackened Glaive (Part 1)

I probably shouldn't show this yet, but I like how it's coming out.  For what it's worth, I've been reading a lot of Jane Austen lately, and I feel like her prose style has infected mine a bit.

The piece below is a kind of companion piece with the story Hannah put up last week, "The Person Next Door."  If you're familiar with the Monomyth structure, you may recognize it here.  I have to commend Hannah, though, for accomplishing her story with such economy.  I was hoping to make this one between three and five pages, but there is no way I'm gonna bring it in that quickly.

***

The Order of the Blackened Glaive

Part 1

Drakar can feel their stares, and he is tired of them.  He knows what they say when he is out of earshot.  Their whispers.  Their fears.  Their outright prayers for deliverance.

Devil-child.  Demonseed.  Creature of the night.

He has heard them all.