Test

Just a test post. You know, to test stuff.

Off to new Blogs

Thanks for the good times blogger. Now I'm off to my new site!

A post to rule all posts

Or maybe not. Later I will have to find a good post to fit this title. I was going to write a post. Instead I am going to write fiction. Last I heard, no one is paying me for blog posts. Not that anyone is paying yet for the other writing, but that is more likely.

Info Dump

This was largely an unproductive weekend for writing. I only have myself to blame for that.

Saturday was great. Spent the morning at the kids first soccer game. They are on different teams and the first game was against each other. My daughter got a wicked grin on her face as she saw that her brother was goalie before she scored the last goal of the game on him. Though he didn't care, he was just having fun playing. Was a great game and they were really having fun.

Saturday afternoon saw us at the waterfront and the PGH Irish Fest. I could not believe the number of people drinking miller lite. Really? At the Irish fest? Why were they even selling it? Anyway. We went to see Gaelic Storm. They were awesome again as usual. Wish we could have stayed for the later show. Tori had a great time seeing all the Irish breed dogs. Then she got to see the girls from Shovlin dance school. She is starting there tomorrow and was pretty excited to see them.

Reading a book right now, and it's just not that great. I'm not feeling any compelling need to finish it. And I wonder how something like this got published. You read some stuff like Rothfuss and you are blown away by it. Other stuff you read and it's not super amazing writing but highly entertaining and you are pulled along anyway. Then that third category and you are just kind of "huh?". Seems that way with a lot of stuff though. Television, movies, music.

Publishing climate being what it is now, the chances seem smaller than ever. Thankfully there is the internet to get things moved along. There is still that desire to have a printed and bound copy in my hands.

Of course, I should have probably worked on my own fiction instead of this blog post.

Test

Testing out this blogger app from my phone.

My Much Abused Blog

There you are blog, sitting there all patiently, waiting for me to update you.

Has been a bit of an adjustment getting back into work, learning new processes and how they do their work at this company. Ariba is really a great company to work for, I am glad I'm in there. Just need to get up to speed on things. That covers the insurance and mortgage side of things.

Obviously writing has taken a bit of a dip. Where I was hitting 1k a day easy, now I am closer to the 300-500 range. I am sure that will pick back up in time. Of course, school is still looming in the background somewhere too. So much to do, so little time. But that is life isn't it? No one here 30 hours in a day right? Or did I miss the memo on that one?

This is in fact probably the first time I have even picked up my laptop in over a month. I've hardly used it since we got our droid phones. I can easily update my writing from my phone (not an ideal situation, but it works on the go). Otherwise, just haven't felt much of a need to use this bulky device. If there was some kind of dock that I could plug my droid into and have it go to a normal size monitor and keyboard, I would do away with the computer all together. You hear that droid people? Let's make it happen. Banish my computer to the depths of some recycling bin, please.

And that is that. Have some writing to do before I head off to bed tonight.

The Good Rejection

If such a thing can truly exist. I think it is by far the best rejection I received. This one from Abyss and Apex, for my story "Flesh and Tome".

 It was well received here, but after some thought we have decided not to accept it for publication.

I hope you'll consider us again

I'll take that. Now I just have to figure out where to try next. I've been working on Dragon Lords so much lately that I haven't put too much thought into my shorter works. Anything else I would want to send around would likely need severe revisions. That's called progress.

This week Scalzi is announcing the winners for his contest, so there is still hope for that also.

Started back to work this week. Nothing exciting so far, but hey, it was my first day. As wonderful as my summer with my family has been, it is good to get back to work and relieve myself of some of the pressing concerns that go along with being unemployed.

Edit: PodCastle was the winner. I really like listening to their stories. Maybe next they will read mine!

Catching Up

Writing has still been relatively sparse. Have had a great time doing a lot of fun stuff with the kids though, so it evens out. Took the kids up to Racoon State Park on Monday and had an awesome day at the beach there. Doing all kinds of fun stuff like that.

On to the great news: Found a job! Starting with Ariba on August 9th. Really looking forward to getting started as a Data Manager. It seems like it will be a great place to work and a good challenge for me every day.

And now a funny side note. In Dragon Lords, I had named the MC Daernol. I was never really happy with it, but figured I would just use it until I found something and then do a massive find and replace. Well, I found that name, Tirnan. I like it a lot more. A variation on a celtic name. The funny thing is that I have done so much work on my ipod touch that when I am typing just on the touch, my brain does some kind of weird loop and puts Daernol back in. It's weird. I don't do it on my laptop, just when writing on my touch.

Well, the kids are playing quietly in their room, Jenn is off getting her hair done and stuff, so I am going to see how much more writing I can get done.

The Battle of Tragon Keep, Part 3

And now, the conclusion to The Battle of Tragon Keep. Here is Part 1 and Part 2. Hope you all have enjoyed the story.

The Battle of Tragon Keep, Part 3

John sat with his legs crossed, axe before him on the ground. He caught movement in the skies above him, a darker outline against the soot clouds.

"Coward," John spat. "Their champion won't even face me on even ground. Time to change that."

John brought his shield to bear before him and counted the seconds while his enemy flew closer.

#

Shadowfluff moved faster than Wil thought possible. It snapped it's wings outward to level off the dive and Wil caught site of his enemy for the first time. A hulking green brute stood upon the wall, a shield braced before it. Wil steadied his spear to strike at the center of his targets shield. Faster than Wil thought possible the orc spun at the last moment to deflect Wil's spear. The orc leapt back to avoid Shadowfluff's claws that raked the ground where the orc once stood.

"Back around Shadowfluff," Wil called into the wind.

Three strong flaps took the pair back into the sky. Shadowfluff looped once back onto the path of the orc. The pair launched into a dive, Wil intent on finishing this and getting back to his family. The orc dived at he last second and threw himself under Shadowfluff. Wil grinned as the orc let out a pain laden cry as his mounts razor sharp claws raked across the creature. He had no time to enjoy the small victory. Shadowfluff veered toward the ground and Wil felt the saddle sliding from the fur covered back of his unicorn pegasus kitten. Shadowfluff's momentum was halted by a tower that stood as sentinel on the wall. Wil tumbled from the kitten's back in time to avoid be crushed by Shadowfluff's weight. Momentum took him over the crenelations. Wil's grip on the golden spear kept him from falling to his death. The haft of the spear was caught on two ancient stones.

"I hope dwarven stone work is as great here as it in is all the stories," Wil gasped. He kicked his feet against the wall trying to gain purchase and climb back up. A shadow blocked out the hazy red of the sky above him.

"Now you die, coward," Scalzorc spit. He raised his axe to strike a final blow to his trapped foe.

Wil closed his eyes.

"Just get this nightmare over with," Wil shouted. His shoulders ached from holding his body against the wall.

"Wil?" the Orc said.

Instead of an axe as he expected, the orcs green hand reached down to grab his wrists. Wil was yanked effortlessly through the air.

Wil stood there on shaky legs and gawked at the spectacle before him. The orc was huge, blood coursed down muscles from the cuts Shadowfluff gave him. He recognized his friends features behind the green skin, pointed ears, and double headed axe.

"Scalzi?" Wil asked. "What is going on?"

"I was going to ask you the exact same question." Scalzorc said. "Where did you get that hideous shirt?"

"Me? You're the one with green skin and a loin cloth."

"Not--"

Shadowfluff mewed pitifully behind the two friends. Scalzorc turned to see the kitten with a great gash across it's belly where his axe cleaved it. John couldn't believe he did that to the kitten.

"I'm sorry," He began.

Shdadowfluff had some strength left. The unicorn Pegasus kitten lashed out with it's paw and rended Scalzorc's abdomen. John flailed away from the kitten, his axe cutting deep into Sir Wheaton's shoulder. Both heroes tumbled from the wall into the blackness below.

#

John awoke with a start. He jerked back from the kitchen table and noticed a puddle of drool on his character sheet. Across from him, Wil Wheaton dozed with his head over the back of the chair. He sat up straight, his stomach muscles crying out in protest. He lifted his shirt to see four angry red lines across his stomach.

"What the he--"

John's phone rang.

"Hello?" he said. He looked down at his watch and grimaced.

"Crap, sorry Athena, I'll be right there to get you."

John took one more look at Wil. He placed his face next to Wil's mouth to make sure he was still breathing and then swiped his keys from the hook and headed out the door. There would be tine to try and figure out what happened later. Right now, he was late to pick up his daughter.

4814 words

4814 words over the last few weeks. While that isn't terrible, all things considered, I think I could have done better also. Time to change that. After we take a walk down by South Side Works.

Working almost exclusively on Dragon Lords at this point. The theme has not been more readily apparent than now while I am out of work and concerned about certain realities we are facing. That just means more fuel for the fire, right?