Faraway Friends

            One of the great opportunities we have in our modern society is the simplicity of communicating through the internet. We take it for granted now, but just a couple generations ago, it didn’t even exist. If you wanted to talk to someone on the other side of the world, you either wrote a letter (and waited forever for the response to return) or made an expensive phone call (although, if you go back just a little further, even that wasn’t available).

            Now we just pop open the internet and within moments we’re having conversations with people all over the world. Marginalized groups, who previously felt alone in the world, have a way to discover they aren’t as alone as they thought.  People who otherwise would never have met become fast friends.

            Having spent much of my younger life playing online games, I’ve been lucky to have many such friends. More recently, though, my online friends have come in the form of my writing support group, the Alliance of Worldbuilders. We started out as a group focused on giving constructive criticism on each others’ writing, but grew into something much more – a group of good friends from around the world. We even published an anthology of short stories together.

            This week I had the great opportunity to meet one of those friends in person – she was on vacation nearby and she suggested we could get together (last month she had met up with a number of the others in the group who, like her, live in England and previously had met a number of others around the world as well). Opportunities like this rarely arise, so even though it meant leaving my house (blech!) and driving to and in one of the largest cities in the country (blargleblech!!!), Colleen and I decided to go meet her.

            After arriving late because I’d only planned for half the bad traffic we encountered, we the three of us hit it off fantastically. I think we actually got along better in person than online. I had expected that we’d visit for maybe an hour, but we ended up chatting for over three hours an everything from writing to social issues to plotting global domination (forget I said that last one). My first meeting with an online friend was a huge success.

            For me, it highlighted the wonderful opportunities afforded to us through the internet. It had the marvellous capability of bringing together people who, in a past age, could never have met. What’s so great about this? The discovery that all the people across the world aren’t all that different from ourselves. Previously, all we could go on for picturing people of other nations was derived from meeting a few here and there, maybe travelling, and hearing from other peoples’ descriptions of then. This, of course, all gets simplified down into the stereotypes that still survive today.

            Yet, now, those stereotypes are tempered by the ability to go online and talk to almost anyone. We can really meet and find out about each other; discover how similar we are. In spite of the people clinging to the past – insisting it’s us against them – cultures from around the world are being brought closer and closer together.

            What a wonderful potential this has for changing how we view the world.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

A World of Their Own

            It’s here! A World of Their Own was released last Friday and I now have some writing published! So, run on over to Amazon and buy a copy (Kindle or paperback – whichever you prefer).

            Now, I’m not just telling you to buy this book because my short stories are in it (we all know that’s reason enough), but there are short stories from a bunch of other amazingly talented authors, too! I haven’t finished reading all the stories yet (silly me, I put it off to long and as a slow reader didn’t give myself enough time to finish them all before writing this), but I have to tell you there are some great stories to be read. The best part about an anthology by a group of authors like this is that you get to sample lots of writing and if you love a writing style enough you can seek out more of their books. With so much variety, there's something for everyone.

            But wait, there’s more! All profits from every book sale go to the World LiteracyFoundation – so not only are you bringing wonderful stories into your own home, you’re helping to spread literacy around the world. How cool is that?

            I’ll leave you to it now – after all, I have some more reading to get done (and so do you).

            ... Okay seriously, brain, what’s with all the parentheses today? (I dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time.) Stop that. People are staring. (Here, we’ll make up for our weirdness with some pretty artwork from the book.) Deal.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Alliance of Worldbuilders

            It is hard to believe I haven’t written a post about the Alliance of Worldbuilders yet. I’ve mentioned them once or twice, but it’s about time I actually told you who they are.

            It all started, amazingly enough, about four years ago. It was a year after I’d finished writing my first book and I was still extremely ignorant of the world of publishing. I had timidly stuck my toe out to test the waters with no results – usurping for me now, with all that I’ve learned. It was during this time that I discovered Authonomy.

            With all the trouble I was having writing query letters, this website seemed like the perfect opportunity for me. It allowed me to share my writing, get criticism and, if I got enough support from the other writers on the site, I would get a review from a Harper Collins editor and potentially a publishing offer. How could I pass that up?

            So, I signed up, uploaded my book and headed over to the forums to post a shameless plug. There, I was almost immediately recruited to the Alliance of Worldbuilders by Sam, the Vice Captain in charge of Cake.

            How to join? It was a simple matter of hopping over to the Alliance of Worldbuilders forum thread, eat the ceremonial virtual cake (that in no way had any mind-controlling drugs to bind us to the will of the Dark Lord TRM) and I was a member. I was even offered a title, which I chose to be Lord of the Wyrms (I felt, as a new member, Dragon Lord would be too pretentious – plus, I couldn’t pass up the play on Lord of the Flies).

            So, what is the Alliance? Well, it was started by Dark Lord TRM (along with his evil rabbit, Midnight) as a criticism group for fantasy writers and anyone else who built their own worlds for their writings. It grew into much more – a writing support group and a group of close friends from across the world, all dreaming of being published. There were probably over 100 people who joined, but there are about twenty of us who made up the core of the group.

            The group ended up talking about everything from writing through philosophy, real life issues and, of course, our plans for global domination. We soon became the thread with the most posts on the entire forum (the legendary battles between Vice Captain Sam and Ice Queen Lisa helped – come to think of it, neither of them returned the dragons I lent them...) Of course, the forum wasn’t built to handle that much traffic, so we were requested to start a new thread. Which we did, then brought it up to the top threads before starting a third.

            We all learned quickly enough that to get the editor review on Authonomy, we’d have to play the political game that had become rampant on the site. So, most of us didn’t bother. We gave each other reviews when we had time, chatted, supported each other and became a close-knit group.

            Thanks to this group, I was able to improve my writing substantially. More than that, though, I learned far more about the publishing world than I ever had before. Plus, I had fun.

            Then things changed a bit. Many of the group started getting published, some traditionally, some self-published, and there wasn’t quite as much chatting happening. Then Authonomy did an overhaul which we were disenchanted with, so we moved out headquarters over to Facebook. We’re still a close group, we just don’t chat or battle as much.

            So, why do I choose to tell you about this wonderful and talented group now? Why, because we’re about to release an anthology of short stories! On September 4^th, we will be releasing A World of Their Own in memory of our fallen comrade, Lindsey J Parsons, with all proceeds being donated to the World Literacy Foundation.

            This collection of short stories is extra exciting for me, as it will contain my first published works. It should also be exciting for you, because it’s an opportunity to discover new favourite authors from a very talented bunch.

            So, mark your calendars and join the Facebook release party. Invite your friends, too! While you’re waiting, you can even check out the group’s Facebook page, website, and scout out all the authors who will be in the anthology. Then you, too, can share in the wonderful imaginations of the Alliance of Worldbuilders.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Reviewing Worlds Apart - Leah

            Worlds Apart - Leah is a difficult book for me to review, not because of the book’s quality, but because of my own aversion to books written in first person perspective. I couldn't tell you why it is – after all, when I was younger I both read and wrote in first person – but something about that perspective is difficult for me to focus on and read.

            Having said that, the fact that I finished it should tell you that this book is quite good. After all, had it not been, there was no way I would have made it to the end.

            Worlds Apart – Leah is a tale of Leah, a nineteen-year-old girl who has just relocated to a new city before going to school. Bad dreams have plagued her since her mother’s death five years earlier, but she and her father are managing to live their lives. Then Ben shows up. From then on, Leah’s world changes. She begins to question if the people she knows are really who she thinks they are and, eventually, she even ends up wondering if her past happened the way she remembered. Who is she to trust while her nightmares slowly become her reality?

            I can’t say that I liked this book from the beginning – in fact, I was a hairsbreadth from disliking it – but by the end of the book I loved it. My feeling towards the book probably stemmed from my difficulty with first person combined with the fact that the fantasy elements aren't entirely present in the beginning – it reads like a book about someone living in the real world and having bad dreams. Which if fine for some people, but not my cup of tea.

            Regardless of my initial impression, there was something about the story that caught my curiosity and dragged me forwards. The whole time I was reading, I knew there was much more happening than was apparent. I even managed to piece most of it together, but as the end of the book approached and all the pieces fell into place I was delighted to see just how much was hidden throughout the narrative.

            While there were sections that I wanted to know a bit more about – and other parts I wanted to know a bit less about – overall I consider this to be a fantastic book. All the little hidden details revealed in the end paint a very well built world that left me wanting to know just a little bit more.

            You can find Worlds Apart - Leah here and you can find out more about the author, Andrea Baker, here.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Swept Away by Vortex

            Here’s another book review and it’s about time. I told you I read slowly – this is the only book I’ve read since the last review and I should add that it had nothing to do with the quality of the book. What it means is that I should also spend far more time reading than I currently do.

            Vortex by Lindsey J Parsons entirely swept me away. I could hardly put it down (on the rare occasion I found time to pick it up)! This book follows a pair of characters, switching between their perspectives almost every chapter, as they are dragged along on a wild and mysterious journey. Sam, a university student in our world, is a girl studying law because it was what her father had wanted, but she isn't sure if it’s what she wants. Damian looks like a human except for his horns and wings, which are unique even in his magical world where the castle he lives in is guarded by a dragon. When Damian is somehow dragged into Sam’s world, both their lives are turned upside down.

            Since I've already commented on how much I enjoyed this book, I would like to take a moment to touch on the one thing that bothered me: the prologue. If I were to decide whether or not to read this book based on the prologue, I would have put it down because I found it to be too slow paced and description heavy. Beyond that, it was well written and gave some excellent back-story and foreshadowing while remaining exactly what a prologue should be – an optional chapter that gives extra information, but does not provide anything that is important for reading the story. So, if you’re like me and turned away by slow pacing, don’t let this prologue chase you away (skip it, if you must) because the pace picks up right away from the first chapter – and this book is worth reading.

            The characters Lindsey has created are phenomenal – and I'm not just talking about the main ones. Each side character has unique depth and clearly has a deeper background than we will ever know. More than that, they are believable. It’s rare to come across so many characters in one book whose personalities could have been plucked out of the real world and dropped into print.

            As for the story, it is excellently constructed. Every chapter is packed with information while leaving just enough questions unanswered that you don’t want to stop reading even though it’s midnight. By the end of the book, I was left feeling that all the loose ends had been tied, yet I would still happily pick up the next book to discover what happens next.

            I'm currently writing a book which, like this one, takes place in a mixture of real and fantasy worlds. Because of that, I am able to comment on how much of a challenge it is from a writing perspective – the hardest part is deciding what characters already know or are able to understand when not in their own world. Lindsey did a marvellous job not only in keeping characters from knowing more than they should, but in allowing them to know enough to maintain realism.

            My advice isn't just to read this book, but to spread it around to everyone you know who reads. It deserves to get a lot of notice.

            You can find Vortex here and LindseyJ Parsons’ website here.





 

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

 

The Miracle of Social Networking

            Today I have no choice but to talk about the miracle of social networking. Those of you who know me well will find it astonishing that I have anything positive to say about anything containing the word ‘social’ – it’s true that I’d be perfectly happy living in a cave somewhere were it not for the bugs, lack of food and the absence of internet – but sometimes even I have to point out the merits.

            A couple weeks ago, I discovered the Dragons Fan Page on Facebook through a couple of author friends I met on Authonomy. After clicking the Like button on the page, I discovered that the person running the page sometimes posted links to the artists’ whose work was being displayed and, sometimes, models or figurines were posted as well as pictures. They also had 18000 people following their page and the wheels in by brain started to turn...

            You see, for the past month I've been sitting on a pile of pictures of my chainmaille dragons, waiting for the time to edit them and put them on my website. Well, now that I'm moved I found that I had time, so I prepared the pictures and had the adorable little dragons for sale on my website on Monday morning and announced their arrival on Ringcrafts’ Facebook page in the afternoon. That evening, shortly before going to bed, I sent a message to the Dragons Fan Page, asking if they might share a picture of my chainmaille dragons with a link to my work.

            I woke up Tuesday morning to quite the shock! The number of Likes on my page had gone from 76 to well over 400! Not only that, but I had tons of comments and questions to reply to, as well as several orders. Throughout the day, more questions and orders came in and the Likes on my page steadily rose until there were more than 550. All thanks to the kind person running the Dragon’s Fan Page who was nice enough to help me out and, of course, Lindsey and Sophie who inadvertently led me to the page.

            So, in the span of 24 hours, Ringcrafts went from being known by a few people here and there to being known by a good deal more people, scattered around the world. I'm amazed and delighted to say that the numbers are still climbing.

            This ties into something that I've learned from the authors on Authonomy. If you want to make a living as an artist, you need to turn yourself into a brand. As I am most certainly an artist – the only careers I considered after my childhood whims of being a veterinarian, a spy or a detective were author, musician/singer, music teacher, and chainmailler – I took this advice to heart. That’s why this blog is linked to both Authonomy (where you will find my book) and to my website. Not only that, but Authonomy links to here and my website, my website links to here and my Facebook page and my Facebook page links to my website. Everything is interconnected and it is easy for someone who likes some of my art to find the rest of it. In fact, some of you reading this may have found this blog through the events I've just been talking about!

            I can’t even begin to describe how much it means to an artist to have someone buy and enjoy their products. You see, the thing is that artists don’t create their works to make money, they make money so they can create their works that they hope other people will enjoy. Nothing is more important to an artist than the knowledge that their art has brought joy to someone else and, as such, there is no greater gift you can give an artist than a compliment on what they created or – better yet – buying it so they can continue creating.

            I hope for a world where, someday, all artists can make a living doing what they love. Until that happens, you should buy loads of chainmaille from me and pester publishers to publish my books.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Review of Midnight Days

            I recently finished reading Land of Midnight Days by Katrina Jack. For me, this was a special book to read because I had the privilege to read part of it before it was published and was able to contribute to some of the editing. I was also one of the people who encouraged Kate to keep chasing her dream at the times when the publisher and agent rejections were getting her down, as they do to all authors. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I’m in this book in my own little way, because there’s a certain graffiti dragon that never would have appeared had it not for me and a list of dragon books I was making.

            I don’t think I've ever read something classified as urban fantasy before, so this was a new experience for me. Interestingly enough, I don’t think I’d like the genre (though I’d need to read more of it to know for sure), but this book... this book is wonderful. It follows the story of Jeremiah Tully, a half-Elwyn (elf) mute musician who was abandoned by his family to be raised by an ogre of a man. From the first moment I encountered this character, he ingrained himself in my mind. He’d lived a life in which nothing good ever happened, yet he was still able to find happiness and peace within himself and his music.

            Every character in the book has their own unique, complex personality. As I read, I constantly had the feeling that there was far more to be known about each character and that they had interesting histories – often I discovered I was right as, throughout the book, bits of those histories were revealed. I’ll admit that there was one point where a character had a personality flip that, while it was built into the character from the start, happened a little too fast, but other than that one moment I found the cast of this book completely believable.

            The world in which the story takes place is so realistic that it could be taking place next door, were it not for the remnants of a demon army terrorizing the city. Katrina’s writing style immerses the reader in the book and assumes they already know everything about the world, but at the same time teaches what unfamiliar terms mean through what occurs – this is extremely difficult for an author to achieve. She also gives the reader an in-depth view of the poverty-stricken side of her world, showing just how bad the underbelly of society can be, yet she does so tastefully and without offending.

            The only criticism I can find for this book is that, in my opinion, it’s lacking a handful of commas that could make the reading a bit smoother in a few places. Other than that, I have to say that Land of Midnight Days is an excellent read and provides fast paced, page-turning entertainment. I invite you to join Katrina and her fascinating characters as they strive to survive in their world and maybe even save it.

            You can find Land of Midnight Days here and Katrina Jack's blog here.

            I hope you enjoyed my first book review. If you didn't, don't worry - I'm a slow reader, so it'll be a while before my next one.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.