Some quick updates

Nothing major to report, but here are a few quick updates on my writing endeavors.

-The Live and Let Undead anthology is complete with my short story "Sparky Save the World" included

-I'm still waiting on a final cover for I, Crimsonstreak -- we're three months away from launch if you can believe it!

-I haven't written anything new in the last couple weeks, but I'm working on fine-tuning my novel The Franchise; I think this one has big-time potential, but it needs several coats of paint

-My Kindle has a cracked screen and is currently unusable; this is a common problem (Google it!), and I expect it to be resolved swiftly

-Currently on my reading list: A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Revision Time for I, Crimsonstreak

I've made it a mission to read the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. I just finished A Storm of Swords, the third book in the series. I have A Feast for Crows from the library, but will put it aside for a few days.

More pressing matters call, you see.

I have received the revisions for my book I, Crimsonstreak, and it's time to work on those. The editing notes came just a few days before Thanksgiving, and I didn't really have a chance to dig in. I worked on them a bit last Wednesday, pounding out a more detailed timeline of some of the events leading up to the story. Actually, I'm pretty happy with the timelines. Now, I have to make sure the revised history of the world matches across the board.

I don't know how long this will take, but this is the next stop on the fabled Road to Publication.

So far this week...

By the time this posts, it will be Tuesday morning.

I didn't quite finish my book yet, but I'm definitely getting there. I'm going to exceed my original word count target by 15,000 words!

Meantime, I'm racing against the clock to finish A Storm of Swords before the library takes it away from my Kindle on November 24! I'm 400 pages into the 1,200-page book, although the last 50 pages or so are background information and a preview of the next installment. I'll make my deadline with some dedicated reading over the next week.

Also a note that the Dark Carnival anthology from Timid Pirate Publishing is ready to launch. I received an email from the esteemed Mr. Nathan Crowder that the book will arrive at the Timid Pirate offices this week. That means I should get my copy in the next few days, which means I'll take pictures of the book and table of contents, which means I'll then blog about it. Oh...oh...oh...you can also order it through Amazon.com.

A Song of Ice and Words I Don't Want to See Again

A few weeks ago, I embarked on a journey to read George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. For the most part, I've enjoyed the series (my review of A Game of Thrones is here), but it is loooooooong. In addition, I've found a few phrases and words I never want to see again...although considering I have three books left in the series (A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons), I'm convinced we shall meet again.

Here are my five worst offenders so far:

Ser. Martin tries to set his fantasy world apart from our own medieval history, which is fine by me. After all, this is a fantasy book. So we see a number of names that could "almost" be from the English language (or another real-world language), but have a different spelling. In the series, "sir" doesn't indicate a knight; the word "ser" does. I'm more than half a million words into this series, and I still can't get used to this. I blame my background in Spanish (I studied it in both high school and college); "ser" means "to be," not "a knight."

Something with a "ling" to it. Lordling, wildling, sweetling. Ick. Especially sweetling. They're the equivalent of diminutives or terms of endearment. I don't care for them.

Craven. Meaning "cowardly," this word and its derivatives appear too many times in the series. A quick search through the Kindle shows "craven" appears 27 times in A Clash of Kings and 43 times in A Storm of Swords. When you're reading a book that's so long and detailed, a word like this shouldn't stick out, but it certainly does.

Boiled leather. Not being a master of arms, I don't have a lot of context for this method of armor plating. However, it seems nearly everyone is dressed in "boiled leather" at one time or another.

Corn...corn...corn. Stupid birds. Seriously. SHUT. UP.

Updates for the Week of November 7

I have received confirmation that the short story anthology Attack of the 50FT Book has received an official reprieve. After being cancelled by Library of the Living Dead Press due to budgetary problems, the good folks at Pill Hill Press (the same place that published my short story "And the World Stopped") have decided to take on the anthology. A few of the authors dropped out, but the majority will stay the course and see their short stories published. Bravo!

Another anthology, Beta City, remains in flux, My story is short-listed on that one and stands a good chance of making it in. The antho, however, was a casualty of the purge at Library of the Living Dead. I know the editor is shopping the anthology around and hoping someone will publish it. Let's hope we find someone...and that my short story makes the final cut.

Crimsonstreak 2: Crimsonstreakier* is coming right along. The first draft is at 73,000 words. I expect this one to be a little longer than the first book. Heck, the first draft already dwarfs the original Crimsonstreak, which clocked in at a meaty 50,000 words. Crimsonstreakier may end up in the 100,000 word range when all the extra stuff is complete.

I just finished A Clash of Kings, Book 2 in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I now have to tackle A Storm of Swords, which is a couple hundred pages longer. I have until November 24th before the library Kindle lending period ends. So, um, good luck with that.

Oh, and my Colts are officially the worst team in the NFL, thanks to our hapless 0-9 record. Since I am a dull-minded fellow, I will keep watching, though I will be using this a lot:

*Not the actual title, I promise

Status Report

This is shaping up to be a very big week.

Today, of course, marks the start of National Novel Writing Month. I've never participated, and this year continues that trend. I plan to try next year because it sounds like a lot of fun.

It's simply not feasible this year. I'm elbow-deep in writing a sequel to I, Crimsonstreak. I hit another big milestone last night, reaching 70,000 words for that book. I'm thinking the first draft will be about 80,000 words...and that's just the main narrative. Like the first book, I plan to write a bunch of supplemental material to expand the universe. That will probably add another 15,000-20,000 words. I've also left some space in the main story for a few flashback vignettes, which I used to good effect in the first book. So the sequel will end up being a bit longer than the original. Of course, it's just a first draft, so I will have to do a lot of cutting, trimming, and expounding.

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to power through the George R.R. Martin fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire." I'm not much of a fantasy reader (I'm mostly a general sci-fi type), but A Game of Thrones (my review here) was very good. I'm about 400 pages into A Clash of Kings right now. I'll have to finish it quickly; the library has also made A Storm of Swords available after I put in a hold request. With a 21-day lending limit on the library ebooks, it takes a little dedication to get through those massive tomes.

Between books in "A Song of Ice and Fire," I finished Ready Player One by Ernie Cline. The book came out this summer to quite a bit of fanfare, and it's definitely merited. I emailed the author, who has agreed to do a quick email interview with me on the blog. So when I write up my review for Ready Player One, I'll have a "Take Five with Ernie Cline" to go along with it (side note: I put an interview request in with George R.R. Martin, but I'm not crossing my fingers on that one).

I'm also the proud owner of my favorite movie of the summer:

I haven't done a formal review of Captain America: The First Avenger, but I did recap the summer's other superhero movies here.

REVIEW: A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones is the first book in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. I've known about these books for a while, and by that I mean I've nearly fainted when noticing their doorstop-perfect build while browsing for books at the bookstore. Seriously, if you had to use a paperback to kill a man, pick up a George R.R. Martin book. The first book was released in 1996, which means I'm really getting a jump on this thing (it's okay; I was late on The Godfather, too). No doubt, the popularity of the HBO series (which I have not seen) also piqued my curiosity.

To try to condense the plot of A Game of Thrones would be a fool's task. Thankfully, you've come to the right place. Using the viewpoints of multiple characters (I think there are eight main ones), George R.R. Martin treats us to a sweeping tale of love, lust, vengeance, betrayal, duty, honor, family, power, redemption, and pretty much every other theme you can think of.

The Stark family, I think, is really the focus of the book. Ned Stark is the lord of Winterfell, a bleak, wintery land that could give Hoth a run for its money. When his friend King Robert comes to ask Lord Stark to take on the duties as his number-two (the King's Hand), Ned reluctantly agrees. The decision is a pivotal one, setting up a series of moves and counter-moves that take the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and move characters around like chess pieces.

King Robert was once a brave and bold man, but now he is no true king. After marrying a woman from the shifty Lannister family, the king grows fat, belligerent, and unobservant. He enlists Ned as help, taking Lord Stark away from Winterfell and moving him south. Let's just say a lot of bad things happen (one of Ned's sons suffers a grievous injury, it turns out King Robert's former King's Hand was murdered by one of the Lannisters, Ned and his family are branded as traitors, succession of the King's line comes under question, Ned's bastard son--hated by his wife but loved by Ned--joins a dangerous group of rangers tasked with keeping watch of evil forces north of a barrier called the Wall).

Meanwhile, in a different book, the former royal family displaced by King Robert's line struggles to gain a foothold. The Targaryen family was cast out as rulers after a mad king...um...went crazy. King Robert led a rebellion against him...and most of the Targaryen line was wiped out, save two surviving heirs, Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen. Viserys, who's kind of a spoiled, idiotic brat, arranges to sell his sister as wife to Khal Drogo, the powerful leader of a wild people called the Dothraki. Daenerys' story is one of pain, suffering, more pain, more suffering, loss, and rebirth. Seriously, nothing good happens to her. Then again, nothing good happens to anyone in A Game of Thrones.

The book has several subplots, most of them compelling. There's the journey of Ned's brave bastard son Jon Snow; the emergence of Ned's oldest trueborn son Robb as a pivotal figure in the Seven Kingdoms. The other Stark children have their own cruel adventures as well. The dwarf of the Lannister clan--Tyrion--also plays a large role in the events that unfold, as do the machinations of his sister (King Robert's wife) and brother (Jaime "The Kingslayer").

Old families clash; old allegiances whither and die while others are forged anew.

Winter is coming...and it is good.

LOVED

-Tyrion the Imp; this guy gets most of the good lines and provides all of the book's scant levity with his wit
-Epic, sweeping scope
-Complex, well-developed world that feels real and steeped in history
-No character is safe from injury or death--you never know what's going to happen
-Really felt like there were strong characterizations for most of the principles
-Ned Stark, damn him, is one honorable man (as are his sons...even the bastard Jon Snow)
-Most of the plots and subplots are deftly juggled and intertwined
-Direwolves!
-Main houses all managed to seem unique

DIDN'T LOVE

-I wish someone would strangle the blasted crows and ravens; "corn, corn, corn!"
-Don't expect to laugh at the wacky antics of the Stark family
-A sense of hopelessness runs throughout the whole book
-The length; good God, the length...not for the faint of heart
-A lot...and I mean A LOT...of characters to juggle and keep straight
-Prepare for medieval sex that is both crazy and comical
-"Ser" in place of "sir"--my mind couldn't get used to this even after 800,000 pages

THE VERDICT

I don't read a lot of fantasy books. Sweeping tales of kings and knights hold a certain appeal, but I've never really been into those types of stories. In this case, I thought I'd try something different.

To my utter surprise and shock...A Game of Thrones gets a scintillating 5 out of 5 on the Ray Liotta Quality Meter (what is this?).