Citizen Vader

Citizen Vader

Image by Red Letter Media My post on books that informed Star Wars drew multiple calls to examine George Lucas' cinematic influences. The Star Wars saga borrows from and pays homage to so many films that covering them all in depth would require a lengthy series. You could probably sustain a whole blog…
October 29, 2015
Book Review: SJWs Always Lie

Book Review: SJWs Always Lie

Evil has a habit of taking good words and inverting their meanings. Consider that many now use "freedom" to describe slavery to base appetites and say "love" when they really mean "fleeting infatuation that ends when physical attraction fades". One of the latest terms to be hijacked is "social justice".…
October 27, 20152 Comments
Why Authors Need to Be Readers: Books that Informed Star Wars

Why Authors Need to Be Readers: Books that Informed Star Wars

Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie The best way to prepare for a writing career, besides writing every day, is reading at least as often. The importance of broad and deep reading for good writing strikes me as so self-evident that it baffles me whenever I ask aspiring authors…
October 23, 2015

Guest Post: You Have to Spend Money to Make Money

Reader anonme's comment on my recent posts deserves a platform, so I'm lending it mine. Take it away, anonme. You've actually covered all three points so I'm kind of surprised they weren't in the original post. I know we have talked about these points at least twice here in the…
October 22, 20152 Comments
Non-Negotiables of Indie Publishing

Non-Negotiables of Indie Publishing

Yesterday I posted a list of questions that authors should ask themselves before deciding to self-publish. Mr. Jeff Duntemann, one of my sources for that post, left a salient comment that nicely segues into the topic at hand. Here's Jeff. You have to be willing to put some of your…
October 21, 20154 Comments
How to Know if You’re Ready to Self Publish

How to Know if You’re Ready to Self Publish

Today, new technology has blessed authors with unprecedented advantages. But these blessings pose serious questions, and as always, wrong answers may invite curses. Foremost among the career-defining questions that aspiring authors must answer is this: should you self-publish? Industry professionals far wiser than I am have given sound reasons why,…
October 20, 20152 Comments
Geek Gab: New Ways to Motivate Them

Geek Gab: New Ways to Motivate Them

Geek Gab Episode 28 returns to a topic that is near and dear to many a geek's heart: Dungeons and Dragons. Co-host Dorrinal asks for advice on the campaign he's currently running. Daddy Warpig and I gladly oblige, and commenters in the live chat even throw their two cents in.…
October 19, 20152 Comments
Nethereal for 99 Cents

Nethereal for 99 Cents

Heads up. Nethereal for Kindle is $.099 cents this weekend. This is an experiment to see how pricing effects sales over a short time, so get it now while the gettin's good.
October 17, 2015
Serialized Short Story: Izcacus Part 5

Serialized Short Story: Izcacus Part 5

Capping off yesterday's penultimate installment, I bring you the conclusion of "Izcacus". Eddie Sharp’s Notes – June 9 (?) Lots of climbers die no one knows how or where. Not me I won’t be like them. Im writing so they’ll know. Crawled back to camp. Passed out. Woke up dont…
October 16, 2015
Serialized Short Story: Izcacus Part 4

Serialized Short Story: Izcacus Part 4

Picking up where we left off yesterday, here's "Izcacus" Part 4. Eddie Sharp’s Notes – June 7 Summit Day: Overslept a bit. Frankly, I needed it after yesterday’s weirdness. The storm blew over and laid down fresh powder, but the increased avalanche risk is minimal. Temperature holding steady. Air’s so…
October 15, 20151 Comment