Willing to Settle

I read an interview with Monte Cook (big-time game designer and former Wizards of the Coast employee), and in it he said: "I think there's still too many willing to take advantage of the fact that many designers love what they do so much they're willing to settle for very low pay."

While he's talking about game design, I think the same is true for fantasy/sci-fi fiction writing. Very true. I'm still blown away by the notion of getting paid for writing even those two small adventures I did for a Goodman Games book that I could care less just how much, or little, it is.

The very idea of getting paid for doing something one really enjoys just makes one feel like a fraud. How dare they ask to be paid? Me, I just want a book (or eight) in circulation someday. If was I told you had to pay (and not be paid) to make that happen, I wouldn't be surprised.

Anyway, just thinking out loud.

Escapee Episode 5 is up.

Candlekeep

Over the weekend, the Sith did, in fact, have their revenge. Who'd have thought? And it was good. With only a couple of cheesy moments, the movie was excellent.

I've been asked to do a couple of illustrations over at Candlekeep (a fan-created but Ed Greenwood-backed website) for the next volume of the Candlekeep Compendium. Basically, it's a netbook of Forgotten Realms lore. I figured, why not? The first volume has some decent artwork in it; I'll be hard-pressed to keep to the standard. I've been asked to draw, of all things, two NPCs and one fruit. Umm, yeah.

I've known for a long time that although I enjoy drawing, I have to leave that interest in the dust when it comes to writing. I never did take an art class, and although I used to want to, drawing just can't compete with my need to write. I'll still enjoy the occasional sketch, though. I don't think I could ever abandon it altogether. Every now and then I itch to do something like that.

Lack of Faith...Disturbing

Nothing particularly new going on, other than:

• Reading the first Eberron novel, The City of Towers, and I'm enjoying it very much.
• Gearing up for Revenge of the Sith on Saturday morning. I didn't particularly dislike the preceding two movies; I only think they could have been a lot better. I'm an old-time fan of the original trilogy, too, but I can't truly relate to others in my generation who are so passionately anti these sequels, who act as though the release of each new prequel wounds them to the soul. They're still Star Wars, man. So they're not better than the originals. That's fine. But the notion that they "ruin" the originals is just silly.
• Thinking about my GenCon plans. I'll be attending this year. I've never been to a single convention before....funny that I'm going to the mother of all gaming conventions.

Escapee episode IV is up.

Lone Wolf

In unpacking only some of my multitude of boxes recently, I unearthed many of my old books, maybe a couple hundred fantasy novels running the spectrum—from virtual unknowns like Ogre Castle to more respectable ones like Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane. I must have had about 80% of all Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance books they put out, as well as a few Greyhawk. I won't even count Ravenloft novels, since I collected those later and don't consider those as retro.

Among the dusty hordes I came across the old Lone Wolf series—a more sophisticated choose-your-own-adventure type of book—that I must have picked up around the age of 13 or so. Books like these were very influential on me. I recall trying to design my own worlds at the time based on the same methodology, not to mention a legion of bad drawings.

As I leaf through them now, I am hit with many vivid, happy memories. And I think there's now some d20 gaming material that came into being in recent days. Good for them!

My respects to the Kai Lords of Magnumund...I hope you have found vengeance against those damnable Darklords.

Short-term Writing Goals

I haven't yet gotten into a lifestyle yet that allows me to adopt the vigorous writing routines that a lot of my writer friends have. In a given month, I can't crank out all that much. So I'm going to name my goals for only the next few months:

- Continue my own story. I've only just begun Chapter 3 in what will probably pan out to be 12 chapter book. It's hard to say. I've got more backstory and cosmology on my world than I do the actual present story.

- Study Eberron. Try to get a better grasp of the pulp-noir feel they're always talking about, maybe find and read a book or two that exemplifies this, such as The Maltese Falcon.

- Begin working on some Eberron writing. Perhaps a synopsis or two (be it short story or full-length novel) so I can throw some ideas at Wizards of the Coast. It's probably best if I do this rather than passively wait until a "closed call" comes up.

LW&W

I can't begin to state just how thrilled I am about this. I've known about it for a while now, but it's another thing to see it officially announced:

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

Good ol' WETA is at it again.

Escapee episode 3 is up, too.

Dreams Don't Need to Have Motion

...but it helps.

Things are going well. Over the weekend, I was able to spend a few uninterrupted hours working on my own novel again, a long-untitled book which I'm just going to have to call the Avendur project, since that's the name of the world itself I'm creating. And even that might be temporal.

My really exciting news is that at last I heard back about my Eberron submission. (It's only been about 9 months!) I made the "short list," making me one of the 30-ish runners up! Mark Sehestedt from the book department at Wizards of the Coast (and one of the Eberron editors) was kind enough to email me the letter when I inquired about its never arriving by snail mail.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled. Very. Now, for the time being, it doesn't mean much, other than a billion CCs of writer's adrenaline injected directly into the self-confidence gland. Down the road a bit, though, it also means I should be included on the list when there's a closed call for something else in the Eberron line. Time to start unearthing Eberron lore again!

The weekend was pretty good. My grandmother has been in and out of the hospital for a while now and had to spend Mother's Day there. My brother visited her on Saturday, and Marisa and I visited her on Sunday. Her health has been the sadder portion of late.

Then there was a big shindig for Mother's Day at our place. The LoPrete clan and friends, including a handful of screaming toddlers, converged. It was loud, but fun and full of food.

Brian Regan

While I find many comedians funny, I don't actually like too many of them.

Brian Regan is an exception to this tendency. The guy isn't offensive to anyone. The only person he makes fun of are dumb people and selfish people (and himself as well). And dang is he good at that.

Marisa and I saw him at a comedy club in Times Square last night. Man, that's some good stuff. Well worth the time and money.

Dragons and Such

It's one part jealousy and about three parts pure pride is what it is. Realms of Dragons II is apparently out in the stores now—I'll get mine soon!—and I know three of the folks whose stories are printed therein.

Harley, Ed, and Kameron. The cool part is, it's not about these stories. These stories were written long ago now. It's about the other projects going on since then, because they got this gig in the first place. Kameron's already got his novel coming out presently, and the others will in time. I can only hope to follow in their wake. If not with Wizards of the Coast, then with some other publisher someday. In whatever form.

Congratulations, guys.

Oh, and Escapee episode II is up.