Farewell 2008, Helloooo 2009!

On January 1, 2008 I resolved that I would write every day of that year. I only missed sixteen days and the results of putting the work and time into my craft are beyond what I could have imagined.

I started with Freeground on January 1, and I had no idea what I started. Five and a half more science fiction novellas/novels followed along with a non-fiction self help, two other books that will go unpublished as well as the full outline and treatment for a horror novel/screenplay that you'll most likely see this year.

My writing has improved, my plot craft has gotten sharper and I've fallen head over heels with the universe I've created over the last 365 days as well as the characters dwelling within. The Spinward Fringe universe is something that will persist whether people are interested or not. The good news is that interest is growing and Spinward Fringe is actually putting bread on the table and a roof over my head.

In August I launched the First Light Chronicles Omnibus and the first Spinward Fringe novella (Resurrection), on MobiPocket and the few people who had purchased them through Lulu.com were kind enough to post reviews there. The growing interest there since has shown me not only where my audience is but that there's actually a demand for what I'm doing. I love to entertain, I could easily say that it's one of my primary reasons for being and it seems the British love what I'm doing. Not to diminish my other readers, I appreciate everyone, but over 70% of my readers live in Britain. If this keeps up I'll have to make the trip to meet a few, but I'm still a little under funded for that I'm afraid.

Since then there have been rumors of a television series, another rumor that the whole book series has been put on hold because I've been picked up by a publisher and yet another rumor that I'm giving up Science Fiction for Horror. Well, none of those are true. If there's a television series coming (and I'd love it if there were), no one told me. I haven't been picked up by a publisher, but two agents have passed on me since I'm self published and I'm certainly NOT giving up Science Fiction.

It's true that I'll be writing a horror novel after Spinward Fringe Frontline, but only one and it's already fully outlined so it won't take very long. There are plenty of Spinward Fringe books waiting to be written and you'll see a few of them in 2009.

Here's something else that's true: I'm just a hair away from making a real living at this. No side jobs, no extra work here and there, just writing full time. Complete independence is a dream that not only my characters lust after, but something I've sought out my entire life and thanks to all of you I may be able to attain that goal. I'll have the opportunity to entertain with the written word a hell of a lot longer, hopefully for the rest of my life. In the meantime my primary donator and a couple much smaller ones have filled in financial gaps that I would have had to pick up a part time job to cover, I have to thank you especially. Just the fact that people are buying and enjoying my work is amazing, that someone actually invests a little (or a lot), more so I can keep producing is just incredible.

To think back to a time when I thought few (if any), people would be interested in what I was writing but I kept inventing and typing anyway really shows me how suddenly and surprisingly things have developed. I wrote for the enjoyment back then, and to be completely honest, writing is still a selfish act for me for one simple reason: I love what I'm doing. If I don't enjoy writing something, I simply don't do it. The fact that others are entertained by what I'm doing just makes me want to create better, more surprising and engaging fiction, thus increasing my enjoyment. It's a mental exersion that its own reward and I couldn't stop if I tried. Having said that, any movie, book, television or puppet show is always a lot better when you've shared it with a friend. So I'm truly fortunate to have a few hundred friends to share my favorite books with. When you have a cinema running in your brain 98% of the time it helps to have a few bodies in the seats.

Thank you all, I truly owe so much to everyone who has purchased one of my books, clicked on the donation button or passed the word.
You'll see some amazing, horrifying, and interesting things in 2009. After all, 2008 was just about getting started and 2009 will be all about making things bigger, brighter, bolder.

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

RL

Happy new year!

First Light Chronicles: Starfree Port [Editing]

Writing the third book in the First Light Chronicles series has been the biggest challenge I've taken on in years. There have been a number of interruptions in my life recently and that slowed things down. What's more important to this project is the fact that the events in this novel change a lot for how the series will manifest itself in the future.

After I finished the second book I knew that, regardless of size, the third book in this short series would be the last in this plot cycle and there would be a very firm ending. My approach is no different than if I were writing this as a television series. With the attitude of North American networks treating their shows like they're disposable, my approach towards writing for that medium is that every episode can be your last. As a result I write every book as though it will be my last. The biggest problem with that is the ending planned for this plot cycle has been very difficult to balance with the rest of the book. If this were a conventional book or television series from the 80's or mid 90's there would be several episodes before the events of this third book. Some would be filler, others would be used to develop characters and plot. I write at a different pace, however, and would rather not take more time than I have to on character development, especially since the style these books are written in determine a default focus on one character, a singular perspective.

I like moving things along faster under these circumstances, and writing filler is just cheating. I'm not after your money, so I'd rather write a short, exciting book and have you talk about it endlessly so I can get popular with your friends, who will hopefully spread the word just like you did. I write to entertain and excite and if I'm lucky these little books might just amount to a living, and then you'll see even more books that entertain, and the cycle continues.

Knowing that this is the last book in this plot cycle makes re-drafting and editing really picky and slow. The good news is that I'm about half way through my final edit now and enjoying the story as I go. After I've finished this edit I'll be forwarding it to my editor, who will do a grammatical pass and review the plot line. While he's busy working on that I'll design the cover and synopsis. After he's finished with the book I'll do another pass on it and post it online if it's ready. That whole process normally takes a week. Then I order printed proofs to make sure the non-digital cover came out properly.

All told, everyone waiting for an electronic version of this book has 2-3 weeks ahead of them at the most. Printed early copies (proofs), will be coming along in 3-4 weeks. That's not bad for a 240+ page book, it's actually pretty quick.

My major point with this post is that editing this is as much of a challenge as every other step. This is my last chance to reconsider plot decisions that will effect this series for the long run before I hand it over to someone else for final editing and review. It'll take more time, and I appreciate every one's patience. I'm doing my best to make sure this third part of the series is worth the wait.

RL

This Generation: Graphics Are Awesome

I'm a gamer. There are a lot of us around. In fact, people over 30 who never played games are actually picking up controllers and loading all kinds of interactive software into their computers. They're even buying consoles. Let's face it, television audiences are getting tired of seeing shows they enjoy cancelled, seeing one formulaic movie after another, and they're happy to look to truly engaging interactive entertainment.

The audience is growing and what people can't help noticing is that the graphics in these new games are just amazing. Frankly, all around it's hard to find a recently released title without fantastic graphics. Even games that seem to have only the most minimal effort put into appearance look better than releases three years ago. You don't even need a $400.00 video card in your computer to take advantage of the upcoming games, a $150.00 graphics card will last you at least two years and play games that look fantastic.

I'm really happy that the technology exists to make our gaming experiences look better all around, but this should change the way games are reviewed in my opinion. I recently commented on the quality of GTA IV and as you may have noticed, I mentioned the graphics briefly and moved on. That's really about as much attention as we should pay to the graphics as commentators and reviewers unless the gaming title actually fails to use the existing technology that makes creating good looking games easier to develop.

I'd happily rake a company and it's title across the coals for a full paragraph or two if they manage to make a terrible looking game. With the development tools and other resources at their disposal this shouldn't happen anymore. Any game should at least look good even if it doesn't meet current standards.

How do commonly amazing graphics change our buying and playing experience? Well, forget looking at the pictures on the back of the box or examining screen shots, you can make a terrible game look great for less money and effort than ever. What's important is grabbing a playable demo! I saw a screenshot for the new Conan console game and it looked amazing. After trying the demo I came to the conclusion that the whole game would be time very badly wasted. The graphics were great, but it really played like a platform game from five years ago, there really wasn't even much point in making Conan a 3D rendered game. I even found myself missing an old Commodore 64 game called Barbarian. Now that was a fun game.


Severely disappointing titles like Conan are out there and there are dozens coming down the pipe as studios release licenced content from the film and television industries that sell based largely on the power of the title. The Lost video game is another title that is really only any good if you're a fanatic fan of the show. The only good point about this $50.00-$70.00 game is that for 20 hours you get to walk through a different point of view on events in the Lost story. That's it, there's no replayability here and no way to change the ending or course of the plot. Sadly I couldn't find a playable demo of the Lost game on Xbox Live!, I wonder why.

There's the other side of the coin here, and I'm not forgetting it. If you take a look at games like Word of Warcraft, whose design team is second to none you'll find another story entirely. They use a graphics engine that can run on four and five year old computers with no problems and thanks to superior design and forward thinking style, the world looks fantastic. Sure, I'd love to see a high definition, next generation, omg-so-pretty! version of the game but I really don't have to. The graphics we have are clear, allow for a lot of variety in landscape as well as character costuming and show us everything we need to see in a style that is unique in the industry. They worked hard and their 10 million subscribers don't care that the game doesn't use a next generation graphics engine. The game is fun, open and uses old and new ideas in combination to create a great gaming experience for everyone.

The expression "Next Generation Graphics" is so yesterday, we're inside that generation and it's a couple years old now. The future comes down to game play because everywhere we look the graphics are awesome.

RL