WRITING
As many of you know, "The Blue Lupine" will be released in the bi-monthly magazine "This Mutant Life" in September, which is only a week away. I can't wait to get my contributor's copy and frame it up on my wall to remind me that no matter what troubles may come my way, there's always someone out there that will love the things that I do.
I have submitted another short story, this time a fantasy-themed story called "Redemption's Rite," a story about an orphaned orc youth trying to carve a place for himself within an order of knights. I hope to be hearing some good news about that story soon.
Xenoearth, the book that I won't shut up about no matter how much you beg me to has been sent away to PYR Books, its first and hopefully last stop toward getting published and being shared with the world. It came out to a healthy 97,500 words, which might be a bit large for a starting novel, but I just couldn't cram everything I wanted to do with the story within a paltry 80k words.
Even though I'm still awaiting notification on Xenoearth, that hasn't stopped me from working on its sequel, "The Argent Fangs." Yes, the name of my blog is the same as the name of the organization that will form in the world of Xenoearth. Its current progress sits at about 28,000 words right now, so it still has a long way to go. I'm naturally excited about this one too.
READING
Not much on this front. I read a Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher, a series I recommend to anyone who likes supernatural mystery stories. I'm currently plugging away at Terry Brooks' "The Wishsong of Shannara," a standard good vs evil sword and sorcery tale that doesn't disappoint. My only complaint with the series thus far is how the books feel kind of samey; every tale begins and ends in a very similar fashion. That being said, I do still urge fans of S&S to read them if you haven't before.
MOVIES
I might as well chime in on some movies I've seen lately.
Clash of the Titans
The remake of that classic movie succeeded in improving the special effects of the monsters and the fight scenes, but sadly, that's all this movie did. The story was more or less the same, but the execution felt very lacking in my mind, mostly because the actors just didn't do that good of a job. Overall, it was a good movie, but not good enough for me to want to have it in my movie collection.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Another Greek mythology-themed movie, this time geared toward a younger audience. That being said, I enjoyed this one more than I did Clash of the Titans because it was a new story, not just a rehash of old work. I did feel like the movie went too fast however and they could have spaced the supernatural stuff in the beginning better, but they still did a pretty good job with this one. I probably will add this to my collection at some point, because it's worth watching again. Oh, and I want a pen sword!
Kick-Ass
What can be said about this movie other than it, well, kicks ass? This is the kind of movie that proves that looks are deceiving; when I first heard about this movie, I was thinking that it was going to be a superhero parody movie, especially considering the very cheesy looking costumes the characters have. When I actually watched it however, it proved that it was anything but that. This movie had excellent action, well-developed characters that you actually gave a shit about for a change, and a solid story that definitely deserves a sequel. If you love superhero action, get it and love it.
GAMING
Not much to talk about here other than a little game called Starcraft 2 by Blizzard. If you don't know what this is, Starcraft is a build and destroy real-time strategy game where you are the commander of an army. You get to play as either the Terrans (Humans), the Zerg (which look vaugely like giant insects), or the Protoss (weird, but cool, psychic aliens). Each army plays distinctly different from the others, giving you three unique play styles with just the factions alone. Factor in the various types of ground and aerial units and you have a game that's about as deep as it gets.
I just wish that Blizzard had done more with the actual engine of the game and given the player more tactical options, such as troop formations and squad based units like in Dawn of War, a RTS based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe. In the end, Starcraft 2 is more like Starcraft 1.5; the same game with new units and updated graphics. That being said, I still love this game. The story campaign is something that was phenomenally executed and made me want to keep playing to see what happened next; Chris Metzen is one of the best storytellers in gaming today.
FRIENDS
Finally met some new people through a woman I met at one of my jobs. You guys know who you are. They are sufficiently geeky and intelligent for my tastes and were actually the ones that convinced me to give Starcraft 2 a try, so props to them for that. My next goal is to get a copy of the Pathfinder Beastiary and introduce them to Tabletop gaming. I might ease them into the idea with Magic: The Gathering, but I'll have to wait until later when I hang out with them again.
OTHER STUFF
Um...I haven't had any sort of significant emotional event to give me a personality change of any kind lately, but I do want to take this opportunity to share my regrets for not being able to show up to the Richmond High School Class of 2000 ten year reunion. Judging from all the photos and discussions that many of you that I have friended on there, it sounded like a lot of fun. Hopefully none of you missed me that badly.
I did get a haircut. One that left me with much shorter hair on top than I'm used to. It still looks pretty good in my book, even though at first, when my sister had put a liberal dose of hair gel in it, I thought I looked too much like a metrosexual. I don't know if I'll want it to be this short again on top when the time comes in a few months or so, but it could have turned out a lot worse. I might get some pictures taken and thrown up online. Emphasis on might, because even though I don't mind having my picture taken, I don't own a camera and I'm rarely around people that take lots of photos.
I guess that's it for now. Keep an eye out for updates on my work and wish me the best of luck. And as always, question everything.
