Monastery

Return to the Monastery

The mech genre poses several pressing questions and challenges for creators - and that goes double for game devs. Allow ground-up mech construction, or minute modification of stock templates? Dumb fire-and-forget rockets, or Macross missile spam? Granular wargame strategy or white-knuckle dogfights? To answer these and other burning questions, Mildra…
May 31, 2023

How to Master Perspective and Tense

If you've taken up the challenge of writing fiction, two essential steps toward achieving your goal are understanding narrative point of view and narrative tense. Too many new authors either don’t understand these powerful authorial tools, or they don’t use them to maximum effect. So today, we'll explore point of…
May 30, 20234 Comments
Spanish-American War

His War

Today is a holiday set aside to honor those who have served in the US armed forces. Most Americans just use it as an excuse to grill and subject extended relatives to inebriated declamations of their political beliefs. So it seemed like a good occasion to explore some actual military…
May 29, 20232 Comments
Joan Lafitte

Spacecraft Data: Joan Lafitte

Joan Lafitte Technical Data Class: Gulf-class frigate Name: Joan Lafitte Classification: light frigate partly reconfigured as a freighter Manufacturer: Augusta Yards Operator: Roberts’ Raiders, Orleans colony, PAX First deployment: CY 74 Crew: 4 command crew and up to 24 other passengers and crew standard; helmsman and 2 crew, skeleton Keel:…
May 26, 20232 Comments
Newpub Talk Z Strike

Return to Newpub Talk

A couple of high-profile boycott campaigns have captured Conservatives' attention lately. It's understandable that middle America would get jazzed about giving beer, sports, and retail megacorps what for, despite the effects being almost all symbolic. Since January of 2021, the realization has been growing among normal people that the system…
May 25, 20232 Comments
St. John the Forerunner

A Bright Man With Wings

From Twitter comes an account of the highest possible high strangeness:   Thanks again to Dan for sharing. And glory and praise to Our Lord Jesus Christ through St. John the Forerunner!   As always, Brian brings the action Read it now:
May 24, 20234 Comments
The Forest Calls

The Forest Calls

Gaming books don't get enough exposure on this blog, which is a huge oversight given the overlap between my audience and TTRPG players. By way of a course correction, here's a little something for you to check out: The Forest Calls! The Wilderkind is a supplement for Castles & Crusades,…
May 23, 20234 Comments
Genre Fiction

The Power of Genre

If you’re a new author reading this post, and you’re not out to become a self-help guru, odds are you’re interested in writing genre fiction. Let’s talk about how to approach writing fantasy, horror, mystery, and sci fi. First, it’s important to understand that genres aren’t just labels. They are…
May 22, 20231 Comment
ƵXSeed-revised

Combat Frame Ƶ XSeed Is Live

Summer's almost here. And we're kicking off the sizzling season with the red-hot finale of my epic mech saga. Combat Frame Ƶ XSeed is now live in digital and print! The Epic Mech Saga’s World-Rending Conclusion Betrayed by their makers … … their sole hope is vengeance. Humanity reels from the disastrous Battle of Earth. Blamed for…
May 19, 20232 Comments
sewer gator

It Was in the Sewer

As we're fond of pointing out here, the neologism "urban myth" is is misleading on two counts: Not only is it used to handwave away reports of the extraordinary, it contains a stealth denial that myths can transmit truth. Today I'm pleased to chalk up another win for so-called urban…
May 18, 20232 Comments