by john | Jan 26, 2011 | Comics, Real Life, Travel, Writing
On the Southern front. I’m in Atlanta for work this week, and I’m still kinda floating around doing not much of anything writing-wise. I’ll be kicking it into gear tonight on my short story, pretty sure I know where it’s going. I think I’m going to let Greg be the lead in this story, because he’s always the sidekick and never the superhero. I might be a little skewed because I just got finished reading the comic series Countdown to Infinite Crisis, which puts Jimmy Olsen in a leading role for a change. But you know, you see a good idea and you steal it, right?
I got chapters 1 & 2 back from my proofreader, but haven’t even opened the file yet. When I finish a project, I just want to avoid even thinking about it for a few days, you know what I mean? I’m planning cons and booking exhibitor tables at book shows, and that’s getting a little spendy, but I really think it will be of benefit in the long run. I think my outlay for the year will be about a grand in table fees, and that’s without Dragon*Con, which looks like it’s going to have to wait until I’m a big enough deal to be an invited guest. I’ll probably attend and drink, but I can’t float the $1,100 for an exhibitor table there.
Here’s my current schedule of cons and appearances for the year (as it stands in January).
February 18-20 – RoundCon – Columbia, SC
March 20 – Charlotte ComiCon – Crowne Plaza Hotel, Charlotte
April 14 – Sensoria Literary Festival – Charlotte, NC
May 14-15 – SC Book Festival – Columbia, SC
June 3-5 – Heroes Con – Charlotte Convention Center
September 3-5 – Decatur Book Festival – Decatur, GA
October 14-16 – NY Comic Con – Javits Center, NY NY
And I might try to do the NC Comicon again this year, and if things go well, the VA Comicon as well. That keeps me pretty busy, especially with all the work conferences I’m committed to. Those look like this so far –
Feb 6-8 – Rigging Training – Madison, WI (Yes, I’ll be at Quaker Steak and Lube in Madison watching the Super Bowl, should be entertaining!)
Feb 10-12 – Georgia Thespian Festival – Columbus, GA
Mar 3-6 – Southeastern Theatre Conference – Atlanta, GA
Mar 9-11 – US Institute of Theatre Technology – Charlotte, NC
April 9-13 – National Association of Broadcasters – Las Vegas, NV
And let’s not forget things like –
Merlefest – April 28-30 – North Wilkesboro, NC
Rent – May 1-12 – Theatre Charlotte, Charlotte NC
24 Hours of Booty – July 29-30
World Series of Poker – June 16-20 – Las Vegas, NV
So I’m not home much this year, apparently, but that’s nothing new. That’s why I have a laptop and not a desktop computer. Put three more books in the mix for the year, and it should be a pretty busy twelve months, ya think?
by john | Jan 24, 2011 | Writing
So I finished the first draft of Back in Black (and Blue) last week, and sent it off to the first proofreader. I’ll likely spend the majority of February working on that book and getting it ready to go. I’d really like to have copies in hand by early March, because I have the opportunity to sell a few at work conferences to friends I’ve made through my real job. My hard deadline is March 18, because on that Sunday I’m listed as a guest at the Charlotte ComiCon, so that will be the debut of the hard copy of the next book. If you’re anywhere in the Charlotte area, this is a great con, it’s a small show, with plenty of time to talk to the writers and artists, and some fantastic deals on comics, too!
This weekend was nice and relaxing, because I wasn’t working on a writing project. I went to the Heroes Mini-Con on Saturday and dropped $40 on some comics there. I always stop by Walkin Willie’s at any con, because they’ve got great deals on trade paperbacks, and I remember William (the Willie that walks) from back when we were both shopping in the same store back in the 90s. So I picked up the hardcover of Final Crisis, the first couple of Buffy Trades, and a Terry Moore trade called Echo – Moon Lake, that a chick standing next to me recommended. It was really good, too. If you like Terry Moore, and really, who doesn’t like Terry Moore, it’s definitely worth a look. Then I got a haircut and stopped in at Rebel Base for a couple more trade paperbacks, including a pair of Fables trades that I didn’t have.
If you like fantasy literature at all and aren’t a devoted disciple of Bill Willingham’s Fables, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. It’s simply one of the smartest, best-crafted comic book worlds in history, and an amazing weaving of fairy tale characters into the modern world. They’re up to something like 14 collected volumes, and I own all of them. There might even be 15 or 16 by now, and they are universally excellent. The hardback of Volume 1 was the only book I carried with me last year to the Heroes Con to get it autographed, that’s how much I liked it. And I got to have a brief conversation with Willingham at the show – a very nice dude who hasn’t let his billing as the second coming of Neil Gaiman go to his head. And yeah, Fables might very well be the best fantasy comic since Sandman. It’s THAT good. Sunday I played a PLO rebuy tournament with my buddy Jim, making the final table before I succumbed to the suckout mojo of the moron with the big stack. I got my money in good, that’s all I can do. Missed the money by two spots, and missed making a profit by three (I rebought a lot), but I will play that tourney again because a moderately trained orangutan can make the final table, and a lucky chimp can make the money. Next week I just need to be the lucky chimp.
So what’s next on a writing front? I have a rough idea as to where Book 3 of The Black Knight Chronicles is going (think werewolf), but I have a couple of other ideas tumbling around in my head, including a post-apocalyptic teen trilogy that I’m 15,000 words into already. I might pick that up, but I also have an idea for a single novel about a government gone rogue terrorist blow things up kinda book, too. So I’m not sure where I’m headed right now.
I do know I’ll be churning out a short story this week featuring the Black Knight boys for an anthology of independent authors that I’m participating in. I’m straight up going Agatha Christie on this one, old-school drawing room murder mystery for the boys to solve. So that should be a fun little dash while I’m waiting for the eagle-eyes to get Back in Black (and Blue) back to me.
by john | Jan 23, 2011 | Book Spotlight
Okay, so this is NOT going to turn into a book review site. Really.
But I read a lot. And a lot of the stuff I read you’re not going to find in bookstores because it’s written by independent authors like myself, so there aren’t any huge market budgets like for the latest James Patterson & Co. book, or even the latest Richard Castle book (and yeah, I’m kinda dying to know who ghost-writes those, even though I haven’t read them, but I digress).
And in an effort to schedule my life a little better so I can post more regularly, I thought that Sunday seemed like a good time to tell you fine folks about some of the stuff I’ve been reading. And there’s not a much better place to kick it off than with an honest-to-god stereotype-crushing indie author success story like Michael Sullivan. Full disclosure, I don’t know Michael, I’ve exchanged a few comments with his wife/publicist/former agent on a message board, but that’s it. Even fuller disclosure, the links here will take you to Smashwords, and I get an affiliate cut off stuff you buy there. You can also find his stuff on Amazon, his website, and a bunch of other places if you don’t wanna give me a little kickback.
So Michael Sullivan writes a series of books called Riyria Revelations, about a pair of thieves in a fantastical land where elves, dwarves and magic still exist. And this pair of thieves gets tangled up in affairs of state, and mayhem ensues. I can’t give you too much of the plot, because I’m on Book 2 right now, and everything about the world may change by the time I get to Book 6.
Book 1 is called The Crown Conspiracy, and it’s one of the most promising beginnings to a fantasy series I’ve read since The Belgariad. I fell in love with the characters of Royce and Hadrian immediately, and love their witty banter, their mysterious background, their cast of supporting characters, the whole nine yards. It’s pretty easy to see that these characters have a lot more to divulge, and what I enjoy about Sullivan’s writing is that he doesn’t feel the need to just barf it all out in a huge exposition piece, he’s taking the time to reveal bits slowly over the course of all the books. It’s the mark of a very well-planned series, and something I envy, because I can barely keep track enough to foreshadow two chapters ahead, much less reach back to background clues I dropped three books ago and pick them up.
The plot is fairly simple – two thieves are hired to do a job, the job turns out to be a setup, bad things happen, the wrong person ends up dead, and our heroes get blamed for it. Don’t get grumpy, this hardly even counts as a spoiler, it’s all in the bit you can get as a free sample. Then royalty gets involved, and we all know how well that usually goes for common thieves, more subterfuge is unfurled, a deeper conspiracy is uncovered, an even deeper one is hinted at, and a big honking fight ensues. We have betrayal upon betrayal, inter-kingdom politics, a snarky dwark, a magic-user who may be a good guy, the same magic-user who may be super-evil, a brilliantly drawn monk who I desperately hope comes back in a later book (and honestly, would be such a good character to kill off later because nobody would expect it and everyone would howl at the pages when he died, but I’m seriously hoping that doesn’t happen, and like I said, I’m only on Book 2), a conniving princess, and more court/church politics than you can shake a stick at.
Seriously, kids, this series is shaping up to have all the scope of The Lord of the Rings without all the boring descriptions and songs. I know, somebody just burned their John Hartness Voodoo Doll because I slagged Tolkien. Get over it, I’m sure he doesn’t mind. He’s up there sipping tea with C.S. Lewis saying something about how kids these days don’t appreciate dense prose. Because I don’t. That’s what I really love about Sullivan’s work here – it’s epic fantasy without the epic reader workload. These books are fast, engaging reads, perfect for people like me who enjoy David Eddings, Mercedes Lackey and Raymond Feist.
So go buy it already, it’s five bucks for the first book and is well worth it. You can also get his books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and his website, where you can order analog editions autographed right to you, which is kind of a brilliant idea and I will almost certainly steal it.
I’m not going to get all book-reviewer and do some formal star rating, but if I did, this series would absolutely get five stars, and more to the point – it gets my money. I can’t give a higher recommendation than to say this – as soon as I finished Book 1, I immediately bought Books 2 & 3. And the rest are at the top of my Amazon wish list!
by john | Jan 22, 2011 | Gambling, Poker
Where I’m not tied to the computer every moment that I’m not at work, sometimes I play poker. And since I’ve been getting killed online over the past couple of weeks, last Friday night I drove to the nearest place to play live poker with real cards.
In West Virginia.
Four and a half hours away.
Yep, that’s right folks, unless I want to play in a home game (which I enjoy, but it does sometimes feel like we’re passing the same money around the table week after week) or I want to play in an underground game (which I’m not fond of not just due to the illegality of it, but more due to the risk of robbery), I have to drive multiple hours through the mountains and rent a hotel room just to play cards.
Fortunately for me I still had a bunch of Marriott points, so the room didn’t cost me anything. Unfortunately for me, filling up my new truck with gas costs me almost $75. But I’m just whining, and that’s silly. I knew the deal when I hit the road. So after our mini-trade show on Friday, I rolled up I-77 to Charleston, WV, and checked into my room. I decided not to play Friday night, even though the games were probably pretty good. I had only gotten about four hours of sleep Thursday night, and may have consumed my body weight in wine, so after working all day and driving four hours, I was pretty well done in. So I finished off volume 1 of The Hunger Games, which is teh hawesome, and went to sleep.
I got up Saturday relatively early, wrote a little bit, then made my leisurely way to the casino. I got there about 1:30, and got on the list for a 1/2 game. It wasn’t an unreasonable time before they opened up another table, and I sat down with about $200 in front of me. And took off. I went on a quick heater, making some good reads and picking off a couple of bluffs from a guy in the 5 seat. He was a 2/5 player waiting for a seat, and showed all the earmarks of a player sitting in a game that was too small for him. He juiced the pots bigger than they needed to be, c-bet every hand, checked the turn if he got called, bet the river regardless of his holdings, etc. It’s not a terrible way to play, but when you do it every hand, and you’re in 80% of the hands, people are going to pick up on it. So I watched him get caught with his hand in the cookie jar a couple times, and then called him all the way down with second pair for my whole stack. I was good, and doubled through him.
I got off to a great start, but when the room opened up another 2/5 game, all the action left our table and it turned into the battle of the old nits. I couldn’t get anything going, and was starting to get frustrated. I looked at the $450 in front of me and decided that the next time it got to an even hundred, either $400 or $500, I was racking up.I never got there, racking up a couple hands later when I caught myself playing badly and cashed out $250 ahead. That was something I had really wanted to work on this trip – paying attention to when the table wasn’t any good and picking that time to take a break. I figured I’d go indulge my slot jones for half an hour or so, and put my winnings in my pocket.
Slots didn’t go so great, as I dropped a quick $40, so it was back to the poker room. I got seated right back at the same table, with the same old farts, and the same frustrations. I bought in short to start, only $100 this time, and blew through that in record time. Then a young Asian kid who I’ll stereotype later sat down on my left, and another new guy sat down directly across from me. I was in the 6 seat, so the Crasian was in the 7 and the other new guy was in the 9. A middle-aged ladynit was in the 8s, and she wasn’t crazy about all the betting going on. I reloaded to $200, and had about $150 in front of me when my key hand came along. The Crasian was in every hand, pretty much regardless, and was on his third or fourth buyin. I think he’d just come back from the ATM for buyin #4 and promised our end of the table that he was going to “play smart now.” The 9s had shoved his whole stack in over the top of Crasian’s raise for three hands in a row, and seemed to be really grumpy about something. It must have been something away from the table, because he hadn’t been sitting with us long enough to have any issues that I understood.
So I’m in the cutoff with KsQs, and it’s limped around to me. I make it $12-15 to go, I don’t remember which, but that was my standard opening raise. Crasian calls, Ladynit gets out, Grumpy calls, and we’re three-handed to a flop of Q-5-7 rainbow. Grumpy checks, I bet, Crasian calls, and Grumpy puts out a big check-raise. With top pair, 2nd kicker I think I’m ahead here, and I’ve seen him make big overbets several hands in this orbit, so I stick the rest of my stack in the middle. Crasian calls, which I’m flat amazed at, and then Grumpy calls, turning over AQ. Shit. Bad read, Johnny, you’re dominated.
Until the King hits the turn, which crushes Grumpy’s soul. River is a blank and Crasian mucks his hand, claiming 5-7 for a flopped two pair. I only half believe him, because he was a nutjob and might have made that call with QJ and been in third place the whole time. Grumpy leaves, Crasian rebuys, and I stack a $450 pot. I tread water for a little longer there, finally cashing out with a $50 profit when I’m called for a 1/2 PLO game.
PLO lasts about three orbits before I stack one player, who isn’t replaced, then I get it all in with the nuts on the flop against another with the same straight and a redraw to Broadway. There’s a third player in the hand who has a wrap Broadway draw, and I pick up the nut flush draw on the turn. River blanks and I chop the pot, but the game breaks because we’re only three-handed at that point. So I decide that at 11PM it’s a good time to grab some grub and head back to the hotel, banking about $350 for the day.
After I eat I wander through the pit because I’m a degenerate, and plop down with $80 at a $5 Let it Ride table. I make all the bonus bets and pick up a steady string of nothing-nothing-nothing, until I’m down to two hands’ worth of chips. I make all my bets, look at my cards, and I’m holding 6-7-6, so I’m already good for the $5 3-Card Poker bet. I pull back my first bet, because I need tens or better to make anything good, and tell the dealer to show me a six or a seven. He obliges, turning over a six. I wave off and leave my other two bets out there, since I’m a guaranteed winner this hand, and he continues the nice and turns over a seven for his other down card, giving me a full house! I’m pretty happy about the 11-1 on my $10 bet, but I’m even happier when I see that the payout for the $1 bonus bet on a full house is $200! The dealer turns over all the hands, gives me my chips, I toss him a redbird and head straight for the cage, certain that I have used up all my run-good for the day.
So it took me nine hours of poker to win $350, and in 15 minutes of Let it Ride, I won $250. Crazy world, right?
I crashed, got up Sunday and drove home, happy with a $600 profit and no worries about covering gas money for this trip. Not sure when I’ll b back up there, but it won’t be long, I guarantee.
by john | Jan 21, 2011 | Vampires, Writing
This is not an original idea. Some of you that have read here and read my books for a while might say that I’ve never had an original idea, but to that I say “bite me.” I swiped this idea from the blogs of a couple of writers I follow, because I think it’s a good one. This is a sneak peek at the beginning of Black Knight Chronicles Vol. 2, Back in Black (and Blue). Lemme know what you think – and don’t forget, the win a Kindle contest is still running!
If you like this piece, buy Volume 1 here!
Chapter 1
The foot came at my face almost faster than I could see, and way faster than I could do anything about. I took the shot straight to my jaw, and if I hadn’t seen it coming at the last minute and let my neck go slack, I probably would have been chewing out of the other side of my face for a while. Except for the fact that I’m on a liquid diet. Forever. But I took the kick to the mouth and was able to spin out of the way of the uppercut that followed. I delivered a punch of my own to my opponent’s ribs and had the satisfaction of hearing a “whoof” of exhalation that let me know my shot hit home even through the body armor.
I grabbed an exposed arm and spun my attacker into a hammerlock, but didn’t lock my feet far enough apart. I ended up tossed head over heels as the slippery black-clad figure put some kind of judo hex move on me that left me splayed flat on my back like a retarded box turtle. I lay there helpless as the tip of a wooden stake flashed down at my chest, stopping a hair before it pierced the skin.
“Uncle.” I gasped, and sat up slowly, avoiding the oversized toothpick that was a lot closer than I ever figured a mortal would be able to get without my permission.
“You see, Jimmy. It doesn’t matter the physical advantages an opponent has, if you’re more mentally together and focused, you’re unbeatable. All the super-speed and strength in the world is useless against a determined, well-prepared opponent. If this had been a real fight, you’d have been a little pile of dust and fangs in the middle of the living room floor.” My opponent, the always fetching Sabrina Law, helped me up, wincing a little from the punch I’d landed on her ribs.
“As long as the opponent was wearing body armor. If you were in street clothes, I’d have broken a couple of ribs with that punch.” I limped over to the couch and collapsed a little, propping my feet up on the coffee table. Sabrina took the armchair across from me and starting getting out of her SWAT gear. I thought she looked pretty good in battle gear, but I’ve been known to have a Call of Duty fetish.
“True enough,” she replied, kicking off her combat boots and heading towards the fridge. “But any well-prepared opponent is more than likely going to have some type of body armor. You got anything for me to drink in here?”
“Yeah, good point. If not body armor, then it’ll be some kind of magical shielding or some super-duper force field or something else I can’t punch through. Oh, yeah, there’s beer in the door. And grab me a bag from the crisper?” She brought a bottle of Miller Lite back into the den and tossed me a bag of blood from the fridge. We both took a long drink, and let out a sigh of contentment as our respective drinks made the bruises feel a little less sharp. I looked over at Sabrina, who looked back at me and we both cracked up at the synchronicity of it all.
We had almost gotten over our bout of the giggles when my partner, Greg Knightwood, clumped down the stairs into our apartment. “What’s so damn funny?” He grumbled as he came over to sit next to me on the couch.
“You had to be there.” I said as I snorted a little blood out of one nostril. Gross, I know, but what can I say, it’s an occupational hazard of being a vampire. “Who peed in your Cheerios?”
“It’s this stupid case. I hate divorces.” Oh yeah. I’d forgotten he lost the coin toss and had to do surveillance tonight. Divorces are the worst thing in the world for private investigators, which is how Greg and I pay the bills. It’s a lot of waiting in cars in sleazy parking lots while somebody does something inappropriate with someone they’re not supposed to be doing anything with while the person they’re supposed to be doing things with waits anxiously at home for us to come back to them with proof of what they wished they didn’t already know. I don’t know how Greg managed. Divorce surveillance always made me want to bite somebody. I took a little pity on him and got him a beer.
“Tonight it was the tour of all the Mecklenburg County biker strip clubs with his floozy girlfriend while his wife and mother of five children stayed home and baked four dozen cookies for the PTA bake sale tomorrow.” He killed his beer in one long pull and headed to the fridge for another. Sabrina and I both raised our hands for a refill, and he brought three back to the couch.
“I hope she takes him for everything he’s worth, the pig.” Sabrina muttered.
I nodded, but Greg said “That’s the worst part! She can’t even take him for anything, because he’s been on unemployment for more than a year! She’s the one working overtime to keep their McMansion and helping the kids with their homework and dealing with the bill collectors while he runs around chasing skirts! If I were a weaker man I’d just bite him. If I thought she wouldn’t be a suspect I’d make him disappear. He’s probably worth more dead than alive with life insurance, anyway.”
“Always an option, bro. I’m up for a snack if you are.” I finished my beer and made to put my shoes back on.
“No. I don’t do that anymore. No matter how bad he is, he doesn’t deserve that.” Greg was purely a bag-drinker. He didn’t touch blood from the tap anymore. I admired his resolve but didn’t necessarily share his strength of convictions. Sabrina was well aware of this and shot me a dirty look.
“Okey-dokey. You just say the word, partner, and he’s a spot on my tie.” I leaned back on the couch.
“You don’t own a tie.”
“Oh yeah. Good thing I don’t have a respectable job, then.” That’s when Sabrina’s cell phone rang and our night took a turn for the spectacularly crappy.
