Author Archives: fictionalpenguin

Over-thinking villains: the LOTR edition

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

By my entirely official, possibly inaccurate count (which just happened moments ago, shortly after my Surface 2 had to restart half a dozen times for updates it’s been denied for too long), this is the 89th post in my Hundred Days of Blogging. Probably. It’s been more of an ordeal than I could have anticipated, but it’s pushed me to keep posting. Even on nights when all I want to do is sleep forever. Nights like these past couple nights, especially after experiencing the human equivalent of the world’s shittiest rental property. Ahem. It’s been a while since I’ve used my Surface 2 for any extended bits of writing (opting instead to use my laptop or desktop, both of which are out of commission presently while I’m still unpacking), so this is proving to be its own magical misadventure. More so as I try to log in to my Screen Robot account with no recollection of my password. I know, I know; for shame, forgetful writer. For shame.

Some exciting news, first, before we continue into tonight’s post. I had a short story accepted for publication in The Literary Hatchet, a publication created by PearTree Press. I’m quite excited, as it’s a story I really enjoyed writing. More on that as I can post it, of course. Joshua Harkin and the Wicked Nightmare King is a little bit closer to being a real thing that exists in book form. I’ve worked with the terrific folks at Cary Press on tweaking the cover here and there, and I’m very happy with how it looks. A couple more weeks and I should be hearing more from them, which is very exciting as well.

This is a post I had the idea for about a week or two ago, but it never saw the light of day (nor the dark of night, I suppose) because I was in the middle of moving. Here are a few disclaimery bits: I am not, by any means, an authority on Lord of the Rings. I enjoyed the books and the movies, but some details have escaped me over the years (or never really made their way to my grasp). A lot of this is just silly speculation that rattled around in my brain the right ways to end up becoming a post.

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Another chapter of my life concluded

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

Today was dreadful. Awful. Horrendously bad. Let’s not even speak of it. Instead of complaining about things I can’t change I’ve decided to share a picture of my cat, Meowiarty, being an asshole.

image

Those are our new shelves, complete with a mischievous cat using them as a cat palace. Little bundle of bastard.

Tomorrow should mark my return to regular writing, hopefully. I’m Surface-bound until I remember where the Hell my laptop charger is. Woe is me for I am forgetful and easily distracted.

A worthy cause – Intervention

Posted on by under Uncategorized

Hi, folks. Second post of the night (woohoo), and though I am in the middle of frenzied last-minute packing I still wanted to share this. It’s that important to me.

Intervention, or Interventioncon, the premier showcase of online creativity is up for a grant that could be a world-moving, life-changing thing for this event. All it needs is 250 votes, which should be easy to accomplish. Voting is so simple: click the following link, then click vote and connect via Facebook.

https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/37955

For those of you who need convincing, read on.

What is Intervention?

Intervention is called, as mentioned above, the premier showcase of online creativity. It has been featured on many news sites of all sizes, and has been home to many brilliant, terrific guests. It’s a weekend long conference filled with educational panels on a number of topics (ranging from writing to comics to social networking and so on), tremendously fun events such as a special season premier of Doctor Who at this past year’s iteration, loads of opportunities to spread awesome and kindness to others, and a generally good time that should have more time than a weekend (I can dream, right?). I can say from experience that I leave Intervention every year I attend feeling revitalized and ready to write, create, and implement all of the new things I learned. To define Intervention in a post like this doesn’t do it justice, but there’s so much more to talk about. For more information about what Intervention is, check out its web site at http://www.interventioncon.com.

Why support Intervention?

Intervention is all about enabling independent artists in moving forward with their craft. It started as the mad, brilliant dream of Onezumi Hartstein, James Harknell, and a number of other dedicated, terrific individuals, and has grown into such a fan-freaking-tastic community since then. There is no con scene that can compare to the community Intervention has built in these past five years (plus the years it was being created behind the proverbial curtain). It’s all funded by a small group and donations. No shady corporate puppet-masters or shit like that. Enablers, people who donate on top of registration, are also very helpful (and I urge anyone who attends to provide even a little as an Enabler as it goes a long way towards keeping Intervention alive). This, however, is a chance for Intervention to receive a tremendous grant and it only requires a few clicks of the mouse (or taps of the finger if you’re on a tablet, smart phone, or other smart device). In a world where such actions are usually rewarded with refreshing Facebook to read a few new, probably boring, status updates, you could do SO MUCH GOOD INSTEAD. The statuses will still be there, but this is a chance to make a huge impact on an event that is making a huge impact on so many lives. I cannot, CANNOT stress this enough.

Vote, and encourage others to do so as well

It takes only a few seconds, and the good it could do will affect so many artists by way of this event. It costs nothing other than a few brief seconds, and it’ll leave you with a feeling you’ve done the right, good thing. Get to it.

The link, again, because pretty-please-with-sugar-vote:

https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/37955

Thanks, folks, and definitely check out next year’s Intervention. I hear it’s supposed to be pretty spectacular.

Crunch-time

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

Tomorrow will involve the transfer of DIRECTV to the new dwelling, among other madness. The madness will be slower, scaled down madness thanks to my jacked-up ankle, but it will be there.

Why? This is the point I need to be an unstoppable force, moving forward and not quitting until I’m damn-well satisfied with the results. Even if that means living from boxes for a bit.

Find your own kind of brilliance

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

Warning: posting this from my Android phone. Who knows what kind of silly shenanigans will follow?

Short summary of my day, better known as The Movening: I got very little done compared to my goals. This is thanks to me finding a groundhog’s dwelling with my foot, falling back on my left leg, and spraining my ankle quite badly. It’s been a symphony of swearing today. The ankle in question is bundled up neatly in an AirCast. It still really hurts.

I also started rereading Stardust for the hundredth time. There’s something in the magic of Neil Gaiman’s writing that fills me with such a yearning to get off my ass and do some of my own writing. The moving mentality I have seems to blot that out a fair bit, sadly.

And then there are the inevitable pangs of envy. Wanting to be able to create something as fantastically brilliant of my own. Lindsey, beta-reader extraordinaire and terrific writer, told me Joshua Harkin and the Wicked Nightmare King read like a collaboration between Neil Gaiman and the author of Howl’s Moving Castle. That is, without a doubt, some of the highest praise I have ever received, but it also got me thinking.

There’s nothing wrong with never achieving Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett level brilliance. No matter how much I try, I won’t. What I will, I suspect, eventually manage is to create my own kind of brilliance. Even if it’s never on a massive scale, it’ll be me and the creative style that is entirely mine. That’s something I hope all creative folks can embrace.

Find what you do well. Make it brilliant. Make it your own. Love it and pour your soul into it, and then rip it apart and fix it until you reach such a point where you can’t bear to look at your work anymore. Let it rest, and do it again.

Above all else, be happy with creating something. There are so many other, similar artists out there, but none of them are exactly the same.