Crimson Moon: The First Book of Kane

And it's here!

And, as a bonus, it's available in paperback, as well! Same day, too. I was up until two in the morning last night, but...totally worth it.

I mean...what else is there to say? Oh, and that's two this year (yes, I'm counting Apprentice as a 2023 release). Ten to go to reach my goal.

Noble Titles

It's looking pretty good; tonight, I'll be putting the book up on Amazon. There's only one thing I still need to do, though: The book needs a good title.

I mean, when you think about it, the title is really the most important thing about the book. Why? Because it's the first thing, other than the cover art, that people will see. So, it has to be a title that will get their attention when they see it.

Some titles are short and to the point: Final Exam, In the Beginning, The Awakening. Some are longer, more drawn out: Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System, A Universe of Possibilities. But either way, the title needs to give someone a reason to want to read an author they've never seen before.

So, what will I call this one? My original idea, back in the day, was simply 'The Chronicles of Kane'. But I've already got the Chronicles of Meterra and the Saga of the Shadowmage. I don't want to get in a rut. Since this is a two-book set (the whole thing would have been massive at well over five hundred pages), I'm thinking I'd like a two-punch pair of titles that go well together.

And, I think I've got it. The first book will be Crimson Moon. The second is Crystal Lilac. Yeah, I like that. That will work.

So, back to it. Time to get Crimson Moon published. I'm getting tingly feelings just thinking about it. And I want the paperback for it done as well; no sense in sticking solely to e-books. Paperbacks are more real, anyway.

Cover Art for the New Book

I have to say, I wasn't expecting to find much available for free on the internet. Okay, let me rephrase that; there's way, way too much out there for free on the internet. But I was looking for a picture that would suit the new book and be usable as both an ebook cover and a wraparound paperback cover. And, lo and behold, I did.

Not bad, eh? It isn't perfect; I'm not going to find a picture like that which includes a picture of a samurai or a ninja or something like that, but still. I like it. And, it will do until I find a suitable cover artist who can do the kind of cover I really want. And no, it won't be an anime cover. I don't do anime.

So, it's time for a final review of the book, and then I'll get it uploaded for publication. I'm planning to have both the ebook and paperback out simultaneously, or as close to it as I can get.

Getting Another Book Ready

I was hoping to get the second Shadowmage book done this month, but that's not going to happen. But I do have another book in the hopper that I will have ready before the end of January. It's fantasy, but a much different one than what I've written before.

This book dates back a long, long time. In fact, it's the first book I ever finished. It was the first book I sent to a publisher. And...it was the book that convinced me that I wasn't going to be a successful writer since I got rejected. I know, I know...I was young and foolish; it was literally half a lifetime ago. But a couple of years ago, I decided to give it another try. Unfortunately, I had lost the manuscript, and I didn't have access to a floppy disk drive to get it back from the saved copy I had.

I wasn't kidding when I said this was a long time ago. Do you even remember floppy disks? Are you old enough to know what they are?

Anyway, I didn't have the original, but I had the story in my mind. I knew it very well. So, I rewrote it from scratch. I had to change a couple of character names that I could not, for the life of me, remember in their original incarnation. But most of it was still there in my mind, so I wrote it again. Not word for word, of course. But I have learned a lot about writing over the years since then, and I think I gave the book a greater weight and maturity the second time around. And, since it was literally twenty-five years since I'd written it, it didn't feel like I was wasting my time or anything like that. It was actually fun.

So, what's the story about? As I said, it's fantasy. But it's got a very different setting. Back in the day, I was a big fan of martial arts and Asian culture, specifically Japanese. And that's what I wrote. A westerner in a far-away land, cut off from everything he knew and having to grow up in a foreign land. It was very exciting writing it the first time, and even moreso the second time. There's a different feel to the magic in this land, a magic that exacts a price from its wielder.

I'm going to release the book in two parts; it's actually seven parts altogether, but I'm splitting it into two books. I debated on making it an actual trilogy, but I'm comfortable with two. I would rather have had it as one book, to be honest, but it would be a doorstopper; it's running at about eight hundred pages. Yeah, it's big. But two parts will work well; there's a natural break after part four that works to split this into two books.

Well, I'd better get at it; there's still some work to be done, and I need to find a cover for it. In the meantime, here's a link to my first fantasy book, Arrival, which introduced the land of Meterra, which is not where the new book is situated. But it's still a fun read, so give it a try.

Generation Gaps

It's tough to be a parent sometimes. Especially when you and your kids have similar interests. Or at least, one of your kids. The oldest one and I don't have much in common except that we're both male. So, that's something, I suppose. And the youngest, being autistic, has that in common with me, although he's much further into his own world than I ever was.

But it's the middle one, Tanner, that mirrors me in a lot of ways. And yet, even our similar interests diverge in key areas. For example, we both love to read fantasy. But it's like pulling teeth to get him to read the classic fantasy books such as Howard, Leiber, or epics like Homer and Gilgamesh. I know, he's a teenager, and they like different things. I know that I loved reading books like that when I was his age, but then, I was weird. Still am, according to my wife.

We also like gaming, specifically role-playing games like Champions and D&D. He's asking some of his friends if they will join in a game with us, which should be a lot of fun. I'm going to be trying to teach them some old-school style gaming. I haven't looked at the newer editions of D&D since 2007, but from what I have heard, they can get pretty wild with the character options. Maybe it's the 'get off my lawn' old geezer in me, but if playing a dwarf or an elf isn't fantastic enough, you're pretty jaded. Fortunately, he does want to play an elf, so we'll see how it goes with his friends.

The thing is, there's just so much out there to see in fantasy fiction, but it has really become formulaic and rote. I mean, everything seems to be either a Lord of the Rings pastiche or a Harry Potter ripoff. The more 'creative' stories are basically mashups of the two big stories. And that's disappointing, because there is so much more that can be done with fantasy. I'm trying to do things a bit different in my writing, but it's tough to get traction with an audience that only knows one or two possible versions of fantasy writing.

Still, it's worth the effort, because we need to break out of the ruts that we've found ourselves in. Science fiction doesn't have to be Star Wars/Star Trek or cyberpunk. Fantasy doesn't have to be kids in a school or an epic quest to find or destroy something. And the genres don't need to be separated and walled off from each other; that's what the pulps were all about, mixing and meshing things together in wild and creative ways that were really entertaining. And yet, for the past forty or so years, no one has known about that sort of writing.

It's time to bring some of that creativity back. I'm doing my part with my newest book, Apprentice, the first book of the Shadowmage Saga. Take a look, and see if it sparks some imagination in you.

Christmas Treasures

This year, I told everyone I just wanted Amazon gift cards. Why? Because books, obviously. My boss gives all her employees $150 to order on Amazon every Christmas. Weirdly, I'm the only one who actually orders books from the world's biggest bookstore. Everyone else orders other stuff. Go figure. At least she knows who ordered the books.

In addition, I got a bunch of gift cards in my stocking, so I had a great Amazon Christmas. Naturally, I ordered a bunch of fantasy books. Inspirational reading, after all. Some of the stuff I got include an H.G. Wells collection of six novels, two Oz books for Garrett, a twelve-book volume of Lord Dunsany, a short omnibus of Fritz Leiber, the Planetary series of short stories by Stanley Weinbaum, and a collection of Clark Ashton Smith short stories. I also picked up the fourth and fifth books of the Early Church Fathers series, and a couple of books for my Latin course. All in all, it was quite the haul for literary goodness. And, of course, Wells, Dunsany, Lieber, Weinbaum and Smith are all pulp writers. Well, Dunsany and Wells were published outside of the pulps first, but they were incredibly influential on the pulps, and many of their writings were reprinted in the pulps anyway.

And yes, I'm reading these books. I'm putting the Latin to good use right now, and I'm slowly making my way through the Church fathers. They are a treasure trove for any Christian reader, with insights from many different men who all held to the same set of beliefs, and many of whom were declared saints later on. Most of them, in fact.

That's something I need to put on my next list: A book of saints. Learning about them is more important than learning about rock stars and athletes. After all, we don't get to be ballplayers in the afterlife, but we might be saints. It would be a good thing to aspire to be.

Now, I just need to build the bookshelves to hold all of these treasures...

The Marvelous Land of Oz

Published in 1904, The Marvelous Land of Oz was a sequel demanded by fans across America. The first book was a smash success, and Baum had written a script for a play that toured America in 1902. It would also be adapted into several film versions even before the most well-known one in 1939. But fans wanted more.

But while they liked Dorothy, she wasn't the most popular character. As you can see in the picture above (a reproduction of the original cover art), the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman were the breakout stars of the story. Fans wanted to know more about their adventures after Dorothy left, and so Baum wrote The Marvelous Land of Oz in response.

Land of Oz is notable for introducing the Gillikin country, which is the north quarter of Oz; its color is purple. Green, blue, yellow and red were used for the Emerald City, Munchkin land in the East, the Winkies in the West, and the Quadlings of the south. Although she doesn't make an appearance in this book, the good witch from the first book, who met with the Munchkins and sent Dorothy on the path to Oz, is the Witch of the North, so this is her territory.

The protagonist of this book is a boy named Tip, who lives with Old Mombi, an unpleasant practitioner of the magical arts. Mombi isn't a witch, though, since the Good Witch of the North doesn't like competition. So she's a sorceress, a trickster, or what have you. Anyway, she's a nasty piece of work, and when Tip tries to have a bit of fun by building a pumpkin-headed man to frighten her, she uses a magic powder to bring the pumpkinhead to life. She then decides to dispose of Tip, who escapes along with the Pumpkinhead, who he names Jack. So begins another adventure in the marvelous land of Oz.

The Scarecrow, for those who remember the first book, rules the Emerald City, and the Tin Woodman is the Emperor of the Winkies. They don't appear right away, as Tip and Jack have to make their way to the Emerald City first. On the way, they find a sawhorse, which Tip brings to life using the magic powder he stole from Mombi before escaping. Eventually they get to the Emerald City, which is under siege by an army of girls armed with knitting needles. What? It's 1904; things were different then.

The Scarecrow escapes the besieging army along with Tip, Jack, and the Sawhorse, and make their way to the Western land of the Winkies to get the Woodman's help in taking back the Emerald City. More adventures ensue, and yet another new companion joins them, the Highly Magnified, Thoroughly Educated Woggle-Bug. He's a pompous sort with a love of puns, but he proves himself to be quite useful by the end of the book.

The end of the book finds the party seeking the help of Glinda, the Witch of the South, who is searching for the long-lost princess Ozma, who was stolen away by...the Wonderful Wizard himself. Turns out he might have been a humbug, but he had a bit of a ruthless streak in him. Eventually, Ozma's fate is revealed, and everything works out in the end.

I tried to avoid the big spoilers, since this book, despite being 118 years old, isn't nearly as well-known as its predecessor. Which is a shame, because this book rocks. It was my favorite Oz book growing up, and it hasn't lost that position to this day. It's the only Oz book that doesn't feature Dorothy or the Lion, and it introduces a bunch of recurring characters that will stick around for book after book.

Baum really let his imagination run wild on this book, even moreso than with the first one. And he got very creative when he was writing about Oz. The characters are well-defined, with personality quirks and distinctive speech patterns. The action scenes are vivid and well-crafted. The descriptions, while minimal, convey the sense of the fantastic that permeates the entire series.

The art in this, and all subsequent Baum-authored Oz books, is done by John O'Neill after Baum and Denslow, the original Oz artist, had a falling-out. As you can see in the images below, O'Neill's style reflects what Denslow did, but it's definitely its own thing.

Meet Tip and Jack Pumpkinhead.

The Sawhorse and Jack in the Emerald City.

And the gang's all here. From bottom to top: Tip, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the Sawhorse, meeting the Woggle-Bug, H.M, T.E.

I can't say enough good things about this book; Baum was one hell of a creative writer, with an imagination perfectly suited to entertaining children with fantastic stories and tales of adventure. If your only knowledge of Oz is the movie, or even the first book, you owe it to yourself and your kids to read this one.

Tool Tales

A long, long time ago, in a province far, far away, lived a man my wife calls 'Dad'. His name was Roy, and he was a very handy fellow. He could frame a house, build all kinds of decorative and practical things for the house and yard, and he had a huge garage full of tools, of which he was justifiably proud.

In that garage hung a sign with instructions for people who might be there to work on their cars, or who otherwise needed to use those tools. The sign read as follows:

1. Glen is not allowed to touch any tools.

2. If you need Glen to get you a tool, see Rule #1.

These rules were put in place after I set a new world record by breaking four screwdrivers and a hammer in the span of two days. Just like people who kill every plant they touch, or politicians who blow every dime of taxpayer money they can find, I was a menace to the tool community. Tables saws had built-in warning sirens that went off if I approached within ten feet. Wrenches would grease themselves to keep me from grasping them. It was a nightmare.

Fast forward to today, and here I am reading books on how to build things on a farm or homestead. I already built a chicken coop, two chicken tractors and a pigpen in the past couple of years; now, it's time to get serious. We've got big plans for this farm, and it's going to require me to not only learn to use the tools, but actually buy my own instead of using my son's collection.

It's crazy where life will take us sometimes. But Dannielle and I have finally got a grasp on what we want to do with this place and how we can make it succeed. I'm not going to spill any beans just yet, although beans will be involved somewhere down the line. So will a wider variety of animals; pigs, chickens and bunnies are just the start.

It's going to be a wild ride; I can't wait to see how it goes.

Bible in a Year

This is posting after midnight, but it still counts.

Doing an annual read-through of the Bible is an interesting challenge. There are a few reading plans out there, some of which are pretty straightforward, where you just start at Genesis and slog through all the way to Revelation. The one I've used for the past six years breaks the Bible up into three parts, reading a section of each part daily; the OT history and prophets, the psalms and wisdom books, and the New Testament. It's worked well, but there are times when it wears a bit thin, and the going gets tough. Particularly when you repeat it every year.

This year, I'm doing it differently. I'm not simply pulling out a Bible and reading it. I'm listening to it instead. It's a podcast by Father Mike Schmitz, available on YouTube, and it's got a great method of breaking down the Bible where the narrative story is the focus. Fourteen books are the main focus of the study: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, Luke, and Acts. If you read those 14 books, you get the story of salvation as presented in the Bible.

The other fifty-nine books are being read as well, but in context with the primary fourteen books. The reading plan follows the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, which divides the Bible up into twelve historical periods: the Early World (Gen 1-11), the Patriarchs (the rest of Genesis), Egypt and Exodus, Desert Wanderings (Numbers), Conquest and Judges, Royal Kingdom (1 & 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11), Divided Kingdom (1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17), Exile (2 Kings 18-25), Return (Ezra & Nehemiah), Maccabean Revolt, Messianic Fulfillment (Luke), and The Church (Acts).

I started the podcast a little late; I listened to the introductory posts first, then the first day's readings yesterday on my way home from work. It covered Genesis 1 & 2 and Psalm 19. It's only twenty minutes, but Father Mike had some great insights into how to understand the first two chapters of Genesis and the story of Creation. I highly recommend this, and I'm only going into day two today.

Here's the link to the reading plan: https://ascensionpress.com/pages/biy-registration

The podcast is available on YouTube or on the Ascension Press website. Here's the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QzUlsjD3k3UnRBLz_Y3DYQGv-mQAqy0

Always Learning

There's an old saying, 'when you stop learning, you start dying.' I love to learn. I wasn't always keen on doing new things, but I always loved learning something new. I've gotten better at the 'new things' part (I'm living on a farm and raising chickens and vegetables, for Pete's sake), but that love of learning never, ever went away.

I mentioned yesterday that I'm going to pick up my French again after a whole bunch of years. It should be easy going at first, since I still have the basics buried deep in my psyche. I'm sure it will get tougher as I go, but I'll get it done.

I'm also doing some Latin, which I've done on-and-off for over thirty years, without ever really getting deep into it. It's too bad; that's a lot of years when I could have been reading the classics in their original language. After I get the Latin done, I'll move onto Greek so I can do the rest of the classics.

And of course, I've always loved history. There's just something about history that speaks to me like nothing else does. So, when I found a Youtube series that covers World History, I had to check it out. It's by Crash Course, and it covers 42 lessons from the agricultural revolution to modern globalism. I'm thinking it will be a good homeschooling course, although I'll have to see a few more videos before I'm certain.

Finally, I'm resuming my annual Bible study. I've read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year since 2016. This year, I'm taking a different approach, using Fr. Mike Schmitz's 'Bible in a Year' program. It's a different method, since it involves reading the Bible chronologically instead of from front to back. It focuses on the narrative story in the Bible, from Genesis to Acts, while sprinkling in psalms, prophets and New Testament writings in their historical context. I'm looking forward to it. And since it's podcasts, I can listen to it in the car on the way to and from work. Time saver!

I'm also beginning to study the Early Church Fathers, the successors to the Apostles. Learning about how they understood the teachings of the early Church is an invaluable resource to understanding Christianity as it was meant to be. I've got five books of them on my bookshelf, big thick books with tiny writing that cover the first three centuries of Christian history. It's a great set, and I've got quite a few more books to go before I complete it.

Then there's the gardening and farming that I'm learning about. I'm going to be working hard this spring to get these bigger gardens going. There's a learning curve involved, and I'm doing everything I can to make that curve smaller. We'll see the results in the summer and fall.

These are just some of the learning examples I'm focusing on in 2023. And I'm also going to be doing some teaching. My son, Tanner, and some of his friends are interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons. I'm going to be teaching them how it's done, old-school. Tanner is quite excited, and if all goes well, we might have our first game this weekend. We shall see.

All this learning has a purpose, of course. It's going to help me with my writing, as well as teaching my kids and (eventually) grandkids. And, who knows? They might decide to follow us into a farming life. I certainly hope so; I planted those trees in the back yard for them. I hope they'll get to enjoy them.