The Black Company

Good Monday to all! This past week I was ridden in bed with a nasty flu bug, but it was an n interesting week nonetheless. On to this week’s post!

First of all, I want to thank each an every one of you for reading this blog and for putting up with the numerous requests to read and to check out my other links. It has been an interesting week because I have now written some articles and some creative writing work for different sites to be published and I have been lucky enough to have been published indeed. Your support, your likes, your views will become an important part of my writing portfolio and for that, I thank you again! You have also put up with an unending stream of Fantasy books lists, I promise that changes are in order on that front, and will try to write about other interesting stuff.

Today, I am inaugurating a rating system that will represent how much I liked a book, a movie, a TV series, etc… The Golden Chocobos Rating will consist of a scale going from zero to five Chocobos, where zero is the lowest rating, and five is the highest.

Reading.

Well, this week I picked up the pace, I had not been reading enough and my soul was suffering for it. (Yes, I still have a soul). I read two books:

Glen Cook’s The Black Company, book 1 of the Books of the North Trilogy

Wonderful change of pace for me, regarding fantasy series; this book is not your garden variety fantasy and is not very accessible in terms of readability. The Black Company is a book that tells the story of a mercenary band called the Black Company, it is a feared and respected band, and their rich history is kept in the voluminous Annals of the Company. You will follow the adventures of the Company and its colorful members: One Eye, Goblin, Elmo, The Captain, Raven and Croaker, the latter being the one the story focuses on. It will detail the battle raging all over the world, and the shaky alliance between the Company and their mysterious employer, or backer, one of the fabled Taken, as they make their way into the bowels of the kingdom.

It is very well written and the pace is relentless. The characters are well built and the relationship between them, although strained, becomes an important part of how the Company survives.

I give it 3.5 Golden Chocobos.

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Bullet, Book 19 of the Anita Blake series

WOW! This book is really good. Of all the 19 books I have read so far, this is the one I enjoyed the most. It is fast paced, action packed but the story and the circumstances surrounding the story finally, at least in my mind, begin to move forward. I had felt that even though the books as single units were entertaining, the story had grown stagnant and predictable. Anita’s changes, gains in power and her choice of lovers had become the focal point of the story, not the threats that surrounded them. In this book, the threats are more real and the consequences are deadly. Anita’s choices are hard and they truly affect her, her change into one of the monsters is still a work in progress. However, there are still some issues, not exactly within the book but with the series. Why does every single cop in charge of investigations are pig headed bigots that hate woman. In particular, they hate Anita? Why? I have read the same discussion 100 times before, the same lines, the same innuendos, the same reactions…it is tiresome.

I give it 2 Golden Chocobos.

Reading

I am reading Bullet, book 20 of the Anita Blake series, Shadows Linger, book 2 of the Books of the North Trilogy, Pattern Recognition, Cyberpunk for the literary club, and, after writing one thousand fantasy books lists and reviews (again I thank you for your patience), I will now revisit the Dragonlance Universe, beginning with the Legend of Huma.

Writing

I am writing a lot, probably more than I have written in my life. The experience of writing articles for online content has been much more difficult that what I though at first, but it has been rewarding as well. It has been tiresome, but a great way to practice and write, which is why I was placed on this world to begin with. This has led me to write X’s Game, a Steampunk short story and it is almost done, and also continue to write the Druid’s Grove. The latter will become the first novel I have ever finished, and although it is still raw and a first draft after all, the guidelines for finishing it, the foundations, would already be there, and that is exciting. I am thinking that after X and the Grove, it will be time to write about another project I have labeled Children of the Sea. Too many ideas, so little time!

Movies

I want to see Green Lantern and Captain America; hopefully I will have time this week to do so. Are they any good?

Well, an update will be ready on Thursday, and hopefully, other articles will linked as well.

Have a great week!

Chapter 5 is up

The Druid's Grove chapter 5 is up and running!

I also wanted to share some links to some of the workl I have been publishing through several content websites. I realized that I am good at two things in life: writing and administrating the family business. I intend to do both. So, while my administrative skills are going to be tested to the max, I have decided that I want to become a Freelance writer, so that maybe, in a few years, I could earn my living writing.
Hey, a man's gotta dream also right?

Visit My Other Links!

Comment and post please!

See you all on Monday!

Back in the saddle

Hello all! Sorry I had no update up for Thursday, but the internet connection in the hotel was not that good and when I got back home two things happened: I got sick...and my internet was down. Sooooo....with the inauspicious beginning of the week, I decided to stop seeing myself as the victim and taking life by the edge of the horns, because, sincerely, there is not much I can do.

This week's update is going to be a bit short, most of last week's feelings are still lingering inside of me, and to be honest, I decided to completely relax and enjoy my wife and kids. I did think a lot at night, hearing the soothing sounds of the ocean, but in the end, the path is clear, there are not too many paths to choose from, so even that had been somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

I read a single book this week, written by Kathy Reichs, the creator of Temperance Brennan, the protagonist of the TV Series Bones. The book is called Spider Bones and it is the kind of book I love to read when I am vacationing. And even though this is the first book I have read on her series, I was still able to get enough of the back-story to enjoy a good mystery.

This week I will be busy, posting articles, writing and finishing X's Game, and I will upload the other short story I have ready for editing, as well as continuing writing the Druids Grove; all of these tasks will have to take place simultaneously as me and my parents try to salvage what is left of our manufacturing plant. So please, wish me lots of luck, I will certainly need it.

See you next week.

Reality check

Another weekend flies by and I am being assaulted by doubts from work and home. It is eerie how life works sometimes, and how it stops working more often that not. I get that life, in all of its glory and trials, is about the journey and not about the destination. True, but again, it depends on what end of the looking glass you are looking through.

For me, this week had been hell, not a blessing in disguise, not a one of those epiphanies hidden behind a wall of hurt, not the twisting road I chose once upon a time. No, my definition of hell, to me, is the uncertainty of not knowing what I am going to do to feed my family in the immediate future, it is not knowing where I am going to be a month from here, and it is the fact of knowing that most of the opportunities I have been given in life were squandered or not appreciated in its fullest. I do not regret the choices I made per se, but I do regret the way life passed be my by and I was either asleep or thinking that the future was too far ahead. Either way, I do believe that life gives lessons and this one, for me, has been harsh to say the least. 

Now, a strange sense of liberation has taken over my addled mind, one that only mad men or the ones that are waiting to be hanged share, it is the certainty of doom that sometimes opens the clogged visual lanes that bring pure joy and sheer terror. I tend to exaggerate, yes, I am not yet unemployed, and will fight with tooth and nails to salvage what might be left of the family business. The bitter end might be fifty years from now, or might come next month, but we are going out swinging. Again, this is the gamble of the desperate.

Now, after this soul cleansing rant, on to the blog.

Books

I finished only one book this week, but like most books in my life, it will define a time and place unique and irreplaceable, not only for the obvious reference to my troubled times, but also because of its own merit, the book is simply magnificent. I wrote a few months back that Neil Stephenson’s The Diamond Age changed my life, well, the Wise man´s fears has also changed my life in the same profound way books possess to let us know that somewhere, someone, has gone through what you are feeling, has tried to do right by doing wrong.

I highly recommend The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.

Writing

The Druid’s Grove is in hiatus now, not only because I am writing this update in Can Cun, but because I am writing the short story I wrote about in last week’s blog. The story is going great and should be finished in a week from now, maybe sooner. However, I have sketched a few more scenes of the novel that might be written a month from now, depending on how I am doing in with the other stories.

Tomorrow is my birthday so…Happy Birthday to me!

See you next Friday, the Thursday update will be moved one day.

Addicted to Anita

Good Day to you all. Another week is in the books, time flies when you are having fun or working like crazy, and in my case, it has been both! On to this week’s post!

Books

I finished two Anita Blake novels, Skin Trade and Flirt. Skin trade is awesome, action packed and it focuses more on a part of the series that I like the most: the actual crime solving investigations. I am a sucker for crime novels, have been all of my life. I have read my fair share of Agatha Christie novels, Patricia Highsmith, Leslie Charteris among others. The first time I read Guilty Pleasures, I loved the idea of the preternatural investigation, and still do. (I guess that I NEED to read The Dresden Files now!) Well, the book is great, the action is great, the sex is great and the body count is scandalous!

Flirt, like Micah (Book 13 of the series), is short and to the point. I did not like Micah very much because it was too short, but Flirt is different, it felt complete, and I did like it. I am looking forward to Bullet!

I am also reading The Wise Man’s Fears; book two of the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. I am enjoying the book immensely, it reads like a classic fantasy novel, but on a whole new setting, with much deeper characters and a fascinating story. I just don’t want to read too quickly and have to wait at least another year for book three.

I am also reading Pattern Recognition, from William Gibson. This book is for our book club, and we decided to give cyberpunk a try. I think I am going to like this one as well.

Writing

Slow week again, bur I have a feeling that is the reasons behind the delay have nothing to do with work at home. No. To be honest, I am bursting at the seams because I want to write a short story for the contest (I already have a short story written, but I have not reviewed it), but his one I think has a better chance at being something important, so this week that is what I will be writing. I will post on Thursday the other story, called The Scribes of Lore, so you can give me your feedback. I managed to write a couple of chapters for the novel, which I liked, so I won’t totally abandon it this week. The thing is, I don’t want to derail the novel, which for the first time in my life I feel that I am actually progressing, moving forward, and it is important that I finish it. But, the calling of my steampunk fantasy has become too loud to ignore. Some research needs to get done, but the universe, the setting of the story is already there, I just need to iron out a few details.

Web Comics

This is my updated list of web comics that are currently on my radar:

Weregeek

Least I could Do

Looking for Group

Evil Inc.

Girls with Slingshots

The Devil’s Panties

Overlord of Ravenfell

Ctrl+Alt+Del

The Gutters

Sinfest

RPG

Last Thursday I played the RPG of Supernatural for the first time. I also marked the first time I played an RPG other than Dungeons and Dragons, and I just a blast. I am not a big fan of the series, although I did watch the first two or three seasons, so I was not completely in the dark. I LOVED the idea of following and investigation, but with little or no restrictions, us being Hunters and all. It did not hurt a bit to have two friends who just role-played their red-neck characters to perfection. One is a gator-hunter and moonshine machine, the other is a failed ladies man who will get us killed. The third member of the party is our basement variety hacker and yours truly chose a college professor, named Sean St. Claire, who has an actual shifter fetish, round out the party. We really did have a blast, being stupid while trying to solve a case. At least we did not get killed, but let’s see what happens this week. I will keep you posted.

See you on Thursday!

Update

Hello all. I have updated today's page, and you can find it by clicking on the link titled The Druid's Grove, to the right of this box. I have included the Prologue and Chapter 1 as well, and today's update is now Chapter 2, so you can read the whole thing if this is your first time, or simply to scroll down to the Chapter you want to read. I will try to implement a new way of posting these Thursday updates so that it might be easier to navigate.
So, if you have any questions or comments about me or my work, please feel free to do.
See you on Monday!

Books and Writing

Sorry about the delay folks, but yesterday I was completely beat and had no time to update the blog.

On to this week’s post!

Books

Last week was a good one for me both in my writing and in my reading. I finished 3 books last week, Laurel K. Hamilton’s Blood Noir, Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings and Patrick Rothfuss’ The name of the Wind. Three very different books but well worth the time.

Blood Noir was not entirely to my liking. For starters, it felt too short and the first half of the book was too slow for me, especially after reading The Harlequin and Danse Macabre, which are filled with action. I am not saying that the story in Blood Noir is not interesting, it is, but I just did not like the pace, although the end is action packed and sheds a lot of light about the changes Anita and her partners are going through.

The Way of the Kings is just massive. I loved it but I have to admit that it took me longer than it usually takes me to read any book, because it has so much information at the beginning and it is written in a manner where all of the characters in the book have the information needed to understand the world. So the first half of the book is difficult to process, although the whole book, the universe Sanderson creates, his characters, are all very, very good. This is the first book on what it is believed to be a long series, a 10 to 13 book series, so I understand the author’s need of presenting us the foundations of the world, which can be a bit tedious and confusing at times.

The Name of the Wind was a pleasant surprise. I had heard about this book when the characters in Penny Arcade’s web comic mentioned its protagonist: Kvothe. The plot moves slowly at times, but the characters are well written and the story really integrates into the world created. I really liked it.

Now, you all know that I am big fan of George R.R. Martin’s work, and the Song of Ice and Fire series is one of my all time favorites, however the series has also transformed me into a paranoid sociopath with my reading, and I am waiting for someone to get whacked or looking at the political angle of things. So reading through the Way of Kings was nerve-wracking, I saw a Littlefinger in every character; a Varys huddled in ever darkened corner.

Writing

This was a very productive week. I have written 12 Chapters so far, and I will finish Chapter 13 today. It has been easier to write shorter chapters and using the overview has also been fantastic. However, I still had to fight with myself, because I just wasn’t letting go. I wanted every word to be perfect, every description to be epic, and that is just no the way to go about it, at least not for me. So I just let go, all of the self doubt, all of the apprehension, all of the tension…and it worked wonders.

What I am posting, usually on Wednesdays, is the first draft of my work. After I have written all of the novel I will re-read the chapters, one by one and re write or edit as needed, but I don’t want to become the edit monster that I know I can become, so I will take things slow. Hopefully this week will be as productive as the last and my goal of finishing the novel before the year is over can be met.

Updates

I will update the blog on Mondays and Thursdays now, with the latter being the day where I post my work. There is another section of the page, separate from the blog, where you can check out my writing.

Games

Well, I just cannot wait to play Star Wars: The Old Republic, for two reasons. One, I love MMO’s so the idea of playing one again is exciting and frightening at the same. The second reason supersedes all others though, I will be playing with my real-life friends again, so it wont only be about the grind, about leveling, about dungeons and raids, it will be about being with friends, sharing, laughing and building a guild together, building and strengthening our friendship and learning to play to game together.

This will be the first MMO that I will play after it is released, so I won’t be the noob anymore, we all will be. I wonder how that will feel like?

See you all on Thursday!

Have a great week!