Hobbit rant

A new beginning and a Hobbit rant!

I am now preparing for my first day at work. I am thankful that I was able to find work as quickly as I did. I am grateful of the opportunity and of the chance to learn new aspects of my profession. However, I am even more grateful for being able to provide for my family and for being a productive member of society.

Change is inevitable in life, I know that, but I think that the new routine, the new hours and the new workplace will be a difficult challenge to get used to. Before, I was accustomed of setting my own timelines, of being able to take a vacation whenever I wanted, or to take a day off when I felt like it. I won't be able to do that anymore, and I am looking forward to facing these and many other challenges. Although I have to admit that I am excited, feeling like I did when I changed schools from grade school to high school. I did not know anybody there, but I wanted to be there. Destiny gave me long life friends and a kick-ass education, so everything turned out to be ok.

So, I raise my glass towards the sky and toast life with a defiant: Challenge accepted!

Hobbit Rant

Well, I do not know where to begin. I am an avid Tolkien fan; his books shaped my burgeoning teen-age years. I was 12 when I read the Hobbit for the very first time, and it was my introduction to fantasy. I have not looked back, having read hundreds of fantasy books over the years. Still, the Hobbit has that special place in my heart. When Peter Jackson made the Lord of the Rings, I was really excited at the prospect of seeing my favorite characters on screen (especially Gandalf and Strider). However, even though the movies are stunning, beautifully shot, with great music and great acting, I was disappointed at all the changes made to the original story. I mean, the non-inclusion of Tom Bombadil is not a big deal per se, but the way the wanted to play the love story of Arwen and Aragorn, the scenes where Galadriel simply looses it with Frodo, how Frodo is loosing it in the presence of the ring, Gandalf's staff is broken by a Nazgul, etc...all of this made up elements are not necessary. Galadriel's casting, along with all the Elves is also highly questionable, but I understand that Cate Blanchett is an Oscar winning actor that will generate buzz and money (but why did they have to show her GINORMOUS FEET? WHY?).

Again, I want to stress the fact that I liked the movies, the movies are gorgeous and well made, but I did not like the artistic licenses and the story deviations. And this brings us back to Peter Jackson and the Hobbit.

He announced that it will be made into a trilogy.

A TRILOGY!

The shortest book of Middle Earth will be made into a trilogy.

Why?

This move reeks of senseless greed to me. There is no other way of putting it. Jackson says he is going to incorporate things from never before seen material Tolkien had written, and of some of the other books that deal with Middle Earth as well, and of using the appendices found in the Return of the King. Again I ask, why?

The story is a classic because it is a simple tale about a simple hobbit thrust into the precarious task of reclaiming the Dwarves' ancestral home, aided by a good friend and Wizard, Gandalf. That is it. Along the way he will meet the Dwarves that will become his companions and he will meet Elrond and Galadriel and Gollum. The story will then take care of itself. There is no reason to drag the simple story into three movies and I, for one, will not be flocking to the cinema to see it, even though I do want to see the movie.

Many of my friends believe that I am being overly dramatic, and they are probably right. But what good is a story written if it is changed completely in the movie? I am not a fan of the Game of Thrones series because of the changes made to the story (and yes, Martin is the one guiding these changes). I am not going to lie, the presentation of the series is beautiful, the acting is superb and the setting hits the nail in the head. The creators of the series have more time to develop and impose any changes made because they have the time to do so, thus the series is much more cohesive than the Lord of the Rings movies.

I understand that sometimes things need to be changed, and when you make a good movie like Jackson did; these changes do not alter the story as a whole.

Bur three movies out of the Hobbit is ridiculous. I will not support them.

What do you think?

Book

I am in the last stretch of writing the novel. Editing has gone well, and it is flowing. This week I want to advance it as much as I can because my new job means a lot less time to write.

It will be a great challenge to juggle the job, family life and writing in the upcoming months, but I am still aiming to publish it in December.

See you all later!

P.D. I used to write the blog weekly, but time constraints and life issues have made this timetable impossible. I will update it once a month, hopefully more.

Past the halfway point!

OMG! Has it been that long already without an update?

Sadly, yes it has been that long.

There is not much to report on terms of the job hunt, I might a have a couple of viable offers coming my way so I have my fingers crossed. I am still sending resumes and talking and emailing to any headhunter registered in Mexico City. I am less anxious to be honest, and I am starting to enjoy the time I have been given to spend with my kids and with my wife.

On the novel front, progress has been steady. I am now way beyond the halfway point. I am now sitting on 90k words, so now only 60k words are left. I am really enjoying this part of the writing experience, seeing the story advance, seeing my characters evolve before my eyes is a feeling that I cannot describe.

On the last post, I wrote about going the Independent route in terms of publishing, and I still feel strongly that my novel will be published that way. Traditional publishing might not be dead yet, but I am willing to take my chances with my story using the social platform I have been carefully building for the past year.

However, I am starting to think that I will need an editor. And those don't come cheap. In addition, some small publishing groups will help you convert your document into an e-book, and give a professional cover art as well as some sort of marketing for your book, for a small percentage. The conundrum is wisely choosing what I want to do with my book once it is finished. I know I am going to have to edit it myself in order for the second draft to be ready, rewriting what needs to be changed, etc. But I feel that I will need an expert's take on the book before committing to any publishing ideas. Editing means I am going to have to invest some serious money on the book, about 1500 dollars. This is a good problem to have, because it means that I am one step closer of finishing the novel!

I have been reading a lot, going this way and that...flip flopping between Fantasy and Sci-Fi and some Anne Rice.

I finally read the Wolf Gift by Anne Rice, her return to the supernatural world. I am one of her biggest fans, but I have to admit that the last Vampire Chronicles books were not my cup of tea, to say the least. I don't want spoil the Chronicles to anyone who have not read them, but the last two books were a big disappointment to me. This book is...strange. Not in theme but in structure. The main character did not feel real to me, the circumstances surrounding the story were not there for me either. The story was engaging once I got past my dislike of the protagonist. Again, I won't spoil the book and give away the whole plot. But in my opinion, Ann Rice followed the same pattern from her last Chronicles books and from her Seraphim series, which is to ramble around the story.

I also read Empire, an Orson Scott Card novel. I love his books, the Ender series, Pastwatch, I even read his horror book. This one though, is very different. It is fast paced, it is complicated, it is a notch above anything I have read from him in terms of vocabulary and difficulty. It is a very good interpretation of what might happen in the U.S. or in any country in the world where the views between the left and right are so radically different and noxious. A good back drop to my country's own electoral disputes. A good read overall.

And I also read I, Robot. I love this book. The way Asimov intertwines his stories, the way he portrays his characters, the hard and critical view of how things turned out by Dr. Susan Calvin just transports me into the future Asimov envisioned.

I am halfway through Robert Jordan's New Spring, the prequel to the Wheel of time of series. I am preparing for the marathon of re-reading the WOT series again before the last book launches, and I am also still reading The Second Generation, The Hero of Ages and have just started Warbreaker.

Hope you all have a great week end, hopefully I will see you next week!

Saying goodbye and hello!

Hello all! I have not been able to update the blog because I have been very busy. Closing down the operations on the plant has been demanding, more emotionally than physically, but still, there are many things that need to be taken care of. I only know that my time in there is coming to an end, and I need some closure. I have always been one to close the lid on a period of my life and never look back, for better or for worse. I intend to do the same thing. What was done or not done, the 'ifs' surrounding this decision have no place in my life now. It is time to move on, time to part ways and time to embark on whatever life has stored up for me. But again, I need to close the door of 15 years worth of experiences and memories. Just today, we contacted someone to help us sell the hundreds of books my dad had accumulated, many of these I read, many of these were the first glimpse of the wonderful world of literature. I could not keep them because I have no place to put them, I have been busy buying my own books for the past 20 years. However, the memories of spending summer vacations down there, the bike rides in the park near the office, the feel and the smell of the place, those things, and those memories will be with me forever.

So, I have been spending my time between the office and my home, looking for work, and let me tell you, besides from the irrational anxiety that has taken a hold of my already shaky mental health, it is a boring exercise of futility. The fact that I have to input my resume into each and every company's database is exhausting. A good friend of mine has given me some of his contacts in the headhunting business, and I am now going to go that route. I am still sending out resumes to my own contacts, still looking for interviews, still pestering the good and bad souls that reside inside Human Resources offices, and my urgency to find a job is still there, believe me, but I can't spend all day glued to the computer looking for jobs in portals like Monster or OCC.

So my alternative has been a rather easy one. I write. I am writing like I have never written before, fluidly, not effortlessly, but I am hitting my word count goals in days instead of weeks. And so, I am pleased to announce that my first book, The Druid's Grove, will be available sometime by the end of this year. But this decision, triggered by the mighty surge of writing, has given me also reasons to think about the route I want to take with publication.

So I have decided that this series will be an Indie effort.

Why? Well, I am a planner, I plan everything, and I make outlines of outlines just to make sure the plan is still there. I have envisioned a path I wanted to take with my writing a long time ago, but seriously, two years ago I decided it was time to write the damn book and to get on the program. The outline cannot and will not wait!

I have four stories far enough in their development that I could have chosen from, but in the end I went with these story, an epic fantasy series, to make my debut as and Indie author. The remaining three stories are still waiting in the wings, and at least one of them is going to go through the tortuous and highly archaic route of traditional publishing. That story has been with for more than half my life now, and I vowed that I would send that one to publishing companies.

However, I believe that the Indie route is the most efficient way to carve a path into a consistent fan base and to connect to via social media to those that are willing to pay to read one of my books.

I would also like to expand more on the Indie topic, and will gladly do so next week.

So, that is what I have been up to, reading a lot, writing a lot, looking for work...a lot, and just trying to enjoy the time I have free to spend with my family and friends.

No book reviews or game reviews this time...although I did get a 30-day trial on both of my WOW accounts and I did give them a look. I have found farming and fishing soothing and relaxing, but not so much the grind of dailies. I will write about my tentative return to WOW next week.

Have a great week!

Games and books

Hullo! Hope you all had a great week end!

I had a rough week, but that is what the forecast predicts right? I mean, looking for a job in a depressed market is not an easy task, finding a job seems to be an urban fantasy rather than a common practice of our society. Regardless of my fruitless search for employment, this little time off has given me time to reflect on my life and the changes that might, or might not come. You see, I am now having time to write, to really write. To hop down the stairs after having breakfast and write. To write after lunch. To write after the kids are asleep and to edit until my eyes are red and sore. And I am loving it, not only in terms of advancement (In two weeks I am past the midway of the novel) but because it simply feels right. So I have made a decision that a month ago I would not have even dreamed of: I will use this time to become a full fledged writer. No more timid incursion, no more half-hearted attempts. No more excuses. I have the time, and hopefully, I will have the means to dedicate myself to write (while looking for a job, don’t worry, I am not that crazy) and finish what I started. I want to publish, and publish I will. The Indie route is jut fine with me, at least for now. The bottom line for any product placed in any market is that if it is good, if it is a quality product, people will buy it. That premise has ruled markets for most of our sentient time in this planet, and the formula holds true for eBooks as well. So, I am churning down pages, and I am getting closer to my word count goal. Suffice to say; amidst being in utter terror of the uncertain future, I am also excited of the prospect of the unknown. Crazy yes, but oh so good!

The process of finding a job might be a long and tedious journey, one that I hope will end soon, one that I am actively working on, but the time in between will be spent with me dreaming up stories and painting the blank canvasses with my words. There is nothing better than that.

Now onwards to what I have been doing so far this year.

Games

In terms of games, I began playing SWTOR on December, and quickly developed an addiction to the game. The storylines are gorgeous, the voice acting is superb, the setting are awsome and leveling a toon is one of the most enjoyable leveling experiences I have ever had (I am not an uber veteran of MMO’s, WOW and Guild Wars are my only true experiences in the genre, with a brief, demented dabble in DC Universe). Me and my friends created a guild even before the game deployed and that turned out to be a very good idea, because guild that were exported from the web page into live servers were placed in servers with lively and active populations. The downer there was that a couple of our members did not enjoy the game as much as the rest of us did, added to the fact that we were an Empire guild and another friend decided to roll Republic, so we never really had the quorum to explore end game content as a group, and finding a good group to do that, via random strangers was not in my plans. So, through a friend, the only active member of the guild other than myself, I was led into the shark infested waters of PVP. Now, it is very important to underline that I had never before attempted any PVP at all. In WOW, I think in all the years I played I amassed about 1k honor points, which is nothing. The surprise in all of this was that I really liked SWTOR’s PVP games and maps, and I got fairly good at it. I really enjoyed it. But there was something missing, and eventually those things that I missed outweighed the things that I liked. The economy was rubbish and even though I had amassed a pretty nice chunk of credits and materials, there was no challenge there. I had two level 50 toons, doing PVP dailies and nothing more. I craved for dungeons and instances, maybe not raids, but some sort of progression that I never got. And, being honest, I never could have gotten it. I was in the midst of trying to save the company so I had no time to spare. Eventually I left the game about two months ago, and to this day, I have not wanted to return and don’t plan to.

The game has some flaws that need to be addressed. The engine is crap. It will nor run well in the best rigs and will run great in middle of the mill rigs. It does not utilize all of your CPU resources and will tax your graphic card to the max. (I had to change my card in order to play the game properly). It is clunky and awkward in certain situations, like being on the fleet in prime time and getting very low FPS and lag. PVP zones were a nightmare as well with these types of problems. It has no cross-server queue, not yet anyways, and even though server transfers are free and in place now (which in truth are server mergers) fighting against the same people, over and over again can be somewhat boring. The same could be said for finding dungeon groups. Patch 1.3 comes out today with a group finder, rated BG’s and other goodies. For those that stayed I hope it is a good one!

So I bought Diablo III and Skyrim to fill in the void, but, in all honesty, with all that is going on, I have not played them much, or at all. I have only gotten out of the first map part in Skyrim and in Diablo I am in Act II in normal. Both games look stunning and I am sure they are a lot of fun, but I just have not given them any time. Maybe next month.

I received and invite from Blizzard to return to WOW for a 30-day trial, on both of my accounts, and so far I have enjoyed being back. To me, WOW is my MMO home and it will be as long s it is running. Don’t know if I will subscribe though, have just been doing dailies and farming mats and that sort of stuff.

Reading

I am reading like a mad man, and have been thoroughly enjoying my time back in Krynn.

Now, this week I will review the first book of the Lost Chronicles Series, Dragons of Dwarven Depths.

I will not spoil the story at all, if you have already read the Chronicles series, there is nothing to spoil (If you haven’t, don’t worry, there is nothing to spoil either). The book centers around the time when the Heroes of the Lance are forced to march towards Thorbardin, the ancient home of the Dwarves, nestled deep inside the Kharolis Mountains. In the Chronicles Trilogy, authors Weis and Hickman told the tale of the Hammer of Kharas when the search and discovery of it had already taken place. This is the actual story of how it was found and by whom. The story allows us to know one of the main characters of the whole series, Flint Fireforge, a Neidar (Hill Dwarf) whose ancestors had been locked out of Thorbardin. We can see the turmoil surrounding his return to their ancestral home as well as the ideological troubles that fester in Krynn.

This is a beautiful story, which will fill in the blanks for to all of the fans of the series. It is a book crafted with special care in maintaining the details of the original story, but focusing the narrative through the eyes of the grumpy dwarf.

It is also a very well constructed story, using the fact that the outcome of the story is already known, so they shift the focus to the characters and the setting.

I highly recommend this book.

Next week I will review the second book of the Trilogy.

However, I am also reading more books (like I usually do) but will touch more on that next week as well.

Have a great week!!!

Musings

It has been a long week for me, filled with family events, looking for work and reading, lots of reading.

Throughout my life I have always had an emotional bond to certain books and certain games. For instance, I began reading Dragonlance books when I was in my late teens, early twenties and have found them to be a soothing balm to my soul, much like Asimov's Foundation series, Drizzt, the Deathgate Cycle and recently, the Wheel of Time series. In terms of games, I find myself playing over and over again Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Age and WOW (World of Warcraft).  Now, this time around, I feel that I am not on the brink of a momentous epiphany, no. I am on the cusp of a life-changing moment, yes, but it is not dread I feel but anticipation. I want things to change, and in my mind they can only change for the better. Don't get me wrong, I am nervous about my future, but not in a pessimistic way, because I am prepared to face whatever destiny throws my way.

So, instead of wallowing in self-pity, I have not reactivated my two WOW accounts. To be honest, WOW is a dangerous game to play if your self-esteem and self-worth are a bit low. Why? Because you could be a successful player inside the virtual world, a good healer tank or DPS, a good merchant, a good grinder. WOW gives you so many achievements and so many empty satisfactions that one could easily mistake them as an actual achievement. In so many ways, games like Warcraft mirror our deficiencies and our weaknesses into a terrible symbiosis of dependency. I have played WOW now too many times to fall into the trap, but I am not sure I want to begin a new chapter with the game, not now.

Final Fantasy on the other hand, is food for my soul, it has always been and will always be. It has everything a game needs, romance, action, tension, loss...the music is beautiful, the message is still relevant and the characters have been a part of my life since I bought the game back in 1998. But I have not started it yet.

No, I have turned my focus into my first true love: reading.

For the last two years, I have not read as much as I would have liked. Work got in the way most of the time, but also illness, games, movies, etc...There was never a good time to read, except maybe on vacations. But, alas, history tends to repeat itself once again and I find myself enjoying books as much as I ever had.

When I was 17 years old, I really had no clue as to what I wanted to do with my life, in terms of EVERYTHING! I will not say I was a lost soul, but I had wandered around the dark alleys of my mind and of life alone and with no life line. It was around that time that I began to read Interview with a Vampire, and the saga of the brat prince simply captured what I was feeling at the time; the despair of not knowing what to do, the awkwardness of leaving the carefree teen years and entering adulthood (although I am not certain I fully committed into the whole adulthood scenario, to be honest) and Lestat's uncanny knack of getting himself into trouble seemed to rub off on me as well. A few years later I came across the Legend of Huma, and consequently with the Dragonlance saga. And with two of my dearest friends: Tanis and Raistlin. Both of these characters tend to walk between the fine line of darkness and light, both are conflicted by their own weaknesses and strengths, by their ambitions and by their love. While Tanis fought between his Elven and Human side, Raistlin wrestled with the temptations of Takhisis and the true taste of power from Finstandantilus, the evil wizard. My struggles are more mundane of course, and I cant say that their decisions mirror my own but I have always felt a kinship to this characters that goes far beyond the story of the books. I feel that I will always have to struggle against those dark inhabitants of my soul and mind, but whereas Tanis had Laureana I have my wife and kids, Raistlin had his magic, I have my writing.

So it was with great joy that I began to read the original six, the holy grail of the Dragonlance series, the Chronicles series, comprised of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning. And the Legends Series, Time of the Twins, War of the Twins and Test of the Twins.

Next came the new trilogy of the series, the Lost Chronicles trilogy and this is the one we are going to be reviewing in the upcoming weeks.

Next week I will review the first book of the trilogy, Dragons of Dwarven Depths.

I hope you all have a great week!!!

I am back! Really, I am!

I think I am back…to blogging. I have missed it to be honest, even though my life is changing in ways I never expected, the simple joy of writing a blog post was, and still is, important for me.

To summarize my friends, these past five months have been nothing short of brutal. For the past 15 years I have worked on the family business, one that had been going strong for almost 34 years. Suffice to say, because I don’t want to get into details about this, we have decided to close the company once and for all. This is a huge blow to me and my family. I still remember spending part of my summer vacations inside the manufacturing plant that in so many ways has become a very important part of my life, and I am not even talking about it in terms of money. This company has been with me forever, I have heard my parents talk about work all of my life and been a part of it has been a great privilege and an honor. The last couple of years have been tough for me and for my parents, but I will forever be grateful for what they were able to achieve, for giving me and sisters the means to obtain an excellent education and to have been able to spend so much time with my parents. I will treasure the 15 years I spent in the manufacturing plant forever.

With that said, it is time to move on. I am not very good at lingering over decisions. I either make them or not. I don’t want look back now, and even though the prospect of working anywhere else is daunting, to say the least, it is also a very good opportunity to start over. Not many people get that in life.

So, I am now officially on the market and looking for work!

So besides surfing the web, entering my CV into databases has been a very tedious and LONG process, I have also been busy working in my other projects, which include a translation business and, of course, my writing.

My writing has evolved into something that has a face now, a form, it is tangible enough for me to see it transforming into a novel.

The Druids grove is clearly broken into 4 stories, at least at this stage. I have finished one already, the longest one, and I am half way through the second part now. The third part is already outlined and some of it is written and the fourth is outlined only.

X is done and the whole novel idea is outlined. Children of the Sea is not outlined but I have something like 100k words worth of drafts and chapters that need some editing and love. Telluride is outlined, and only a short story is written from it, and my newest project, The Knight of Storms and the Vampire Witch is just a work in progress.

My main goal is to publish my e-book independently by the end of the year, a feat that seems to come closer and closer as I type these words. I am now writing between 5 and 10k words a day, and I will continue to do so until I get a new job or die trying (not literally :D)

The blog will be updated each Monday again!

There are a LOT of books, games and other reviews pending!

See you soon!

Grinding

Middle of the week and I have this irresistible craving of writing all day long. But I can’t write all day, I can’t read all day and I can’t play games all day. I have work and a beautiful family to take care of, so the alternative suits me just fine.

Now, the Novel is advancing at an accelerated pace. The three stories that will meld into one, eventually, are well under way. The whole structure of the world is finished; the nuances of clothing, architecture, vegetation, etc…are in place and no longer require more of my limited time. Now I am only writing and editing, writing and editing. This first book of a five part series will be available, if all goes well, around December of this year. Book two is already outlined. So I am pretty excited about this!

My short story, X, will be ready soon as well, I just need to get my reading group together and iron out the details it still has. Draft two was fairly different from draft one, but I liked the second better, its structure is much better and the pace is better as well.

Hopefully, I can send the story in May, and work on a second story shortly.

The other two projects that are still dancing in my head will have to wait for a bit. This is not bad really, because I am still making notes about characters or ideas about the story of these two projects, and I know that, at some point, they will get written.

As I grow older I begin to realize that certain things in life tend to be easier than initially thought, perception changes, yes, but drowning in a puddle is no longer an option, when real life-changing problems knock on our doors. I understand that writing, in any of its forms is an outlet I NEED in order to function right, regardless of my dreams and passion of becoming an author. This is good!

See you all later!

Back!

After a long hiatus, I am back doing what I love to do: write.

I have been immersed in my writing, in my work and also, doing some translations, that have kept me away from the blog, and I do miss it.

So let's get down to it shall we?

Again, I am going to make some changes. Anything related to the game, SWTOR, will now be addressed in a different blog. The game has been much more that I expected, and we are near, as a guild, of beginning to experience end game content.

Books I am reading, or have read, will be reviewed in yet another blog (I love this!)

In this blog, I will only talk about my writing.

This week's topic is literary influences.

When I began the wonderful journey of reading a book, I was immersed into wonderful worlds, created by authors like Tolkien, Stoker, Christie, Orwell, Poe and Hemingway. (My school's English Lit class was, and still is, one of the best in the country, if not the best). I fell in love with fantasy, but with literature in general, and began to devour books. One of the first series I remember fondly, and that I have read multiple times since, is Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. His work would get me interested in Sci-Fi and later into authors like Orson Scott Card.

However, nudged in between fantasy and sci-fi, the late father of one of my best friends introduced ne to the world written by Anne Rice.

I don't think there is an author that has had more influence on me than Rice, not only in terms of style, bur more importantly, in terms of ambience. Through her pen I was able to walk through the streets of Rome, Athens, Paris and her beloved New Orleans. I was able to live through the eyes of her fantastic characters (I mean, Lestat is THE vampire) and her fantastic stories. She was the first author I dissected, that I bothered to take notes from her books, that I tried to learn how she constructed her sentences. She was the first author that urged me, through her writing, to become an author.

My literary life has been influenced by many authors since, heck, we all are. I have my own style now, I have my own cadence and quirks, and crutches and such...but I have been influenced by many other authors.

Patricia Highsmith and her anti-hero, Thomas Ripley. How she makes us root for the bad guy is still a mystery to me, but her books are filled with tension and intrigue that one can only take so much.

Robert Jordan, to me, redefined the fantasy genre (and I am a BIG Tolkien fan, and Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms reader :D) He simply elevated the benchmark of what fantasy literature was about, mixing a superb, complex an endearing story, giving us richly detailed characters, and cities, and customs, and wardrobe, and architecture, and turning it into a wonderful whole.

What are your influences?

See you all next week.

Renewal

Oh boy, it has been a while since my last update, two months have gone by, and to say that nothing has happened would be untrue, yet it feels like that to me.

Many things have passed me by, the holiday season, the ungrateful return to labor, the persistent writing block that attacks me every January and the blossoming of my characters in SWTOR. Also, I have not found a book to read, so I am reading 8 or nine books at the same time...a bit chaotic, the same way my head feels right now.

I will elaborate.

My wife and I love the holiday season, we love buying the Christmas tree and setting up the whole house to look like Santa's workshop. Our two kids love it also. So it was at this time, that the Beta weekends of SWTOR finally arrived, and with it a void had filled in my life but at the same time, the need to play an MMO had matured into a candid desire to just unwind from the inevitable horrors from work. The holiday season and SWTOR, who could ask for more?

December was not a good month at work, we did not have the amount work we needed to have, but it was a great month in terms of new beginnings, new clients, new and renewed hope. The last six months took a toll on me; I am tired of being tired, of being worried. But with the burden of potential doom, clarity came along, a frantic oasis of stillness that mitigated the overpowering sensation of loss. I could now breathe easier, I could sleep and rest and I could play and write and read.

Not so fast.

The playing part has been great. I have not felt the urge to play at all hours, at all times. The addiction is under control, so far. I am enjoying the game and I am taking my time to enjoy it...I will expand more on the game later. However, the writing and reading part is not going well. It seems that when I make a New Year's resolution, my real aim is to disregard anything associated with it. Thus, the elusive muse is still hiding, somewhere, inside my head and I can't seem to lure her out to the pages, where she belongs. The short story is coming along nicely, but slowly, the two novels want to burst out of me now, but when I work on them they retreat to their shadowy hiding place. I will finish the story soon, but I am afraid to set a due date, procrastination is an art form and I can perform it flawlessly. Such is life.

The writing conundrum has wrought havoc to my reading habits, and I have been unable to choose which book to read next, so I have been jumping from book to book to no avail. I am a creature of habit, I need uniformity, and I have not been able to get it so far this year, although February should be better.

The game is very good; it is a mesh of everything that is good from every MMO that came out before it, mixed with the brilliant Bioware story weaving and the immortal Star Wars series. I initially wanted to level up an Imperial Agent Sniper, and I am doing just so, but at a slower pace. The Agent is level 33, the Bounty Hunter is level 48, ready to hit 50 this week. Our guild, Soul Harvesters, has only one 50 so far, but that will change in the upcoming weeks.

So, I will try to write more, try to eat less (yes, the diet was one of many of my resolutions, along with not smoking, that so far, I have been able to maintain), try to sleep more, try to read a single book, or no more that three at a time, and be a better dad, husband, son, brother, writer, Guild Master and last, but not least, a better person.

See you all next week.

Apologies

Sorry I have not updated the blog, work has been really intense this past couple of weeks, and the joy of writing this blog suddenly became a chore I did not want to undertake. This week should be a bit different, and I will begin my usual ramblings once more. The ETA of the post should be on Wed. Still looking for the perfect day to write it, so I am going with Wed. for now.

See you soon!

On to 2012

Happy New Year folks! I hope everyone had a good, relaxing and peaceful holiday. I spent most of my time with my family and friends, and although it was a bit tiring, it was a much needed break.

This year, I am going to get published, one way or another. I have two novels that I want to finish and a short story that I want to send to a contest. So I better get to work.

Novels:

The Druid's Grove is the one I have advanced the most. I am almost past the midway point, but the overview and overall plot is already done, it is just a matter of churning out some chapters and then doing a very good editing job. I feel that this project might be perfect for publishing it independently. Two months have passed since I stopped writing it and it is ripe for a strong and quick finish. I still need to pass a few things into Scrivener before continuing.

Children of the Sea is not so advanced, but I do have a very clear and definite idea of where I am going with this. It might take a bit longer, but I will get this novel written this year. Most of the research and Encyclopedia is already in Scrivener, only characters and settings need to be passed into the program. Excited about getting this one done!

I am also going to spend this week getting both novels into Scrivener. I love this program and I think it will really help me out in the long run. I am a plotter, and I need to have things under control before venturing out and writing about it.

I will let you know how I am doing in next week's post.

Books:

I read a quite a bit this past month.

I read Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy and just loved it. The characters are full of life and the way their lives intertwine will keep you on your toes.

I am reading Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, and so far I have really liked the first book.

Going to finish Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy this month as well, and begin The Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

Games:

SW:TOR is finally here, as it has been for the past three weeks. After World of Warcraft, I had not found an MMO that could replace WOW, until now.

The graphics and setting are stunning, the classes seem to be well balanced and fun ( I am playing the Empire and so far have a 18 Bounty Hunter, 17 Imperial Agent and a 10 Warrior) but the details are what make this game special. The fact that every single one of the quest givers has a line of dialog only you can hear and see is pretty special to me, considering that in WOW I grabbed as many quests as I could without bothering of finding out what I needed to do. Class quests and story arches are, so far, epic. Flashpoints and group quests are challenging and rewarding.

I will write more about hits next week!

See you soon!

Resuming Posts

Hello all!

I just wanted to let you know that new blog posts will be written beginning next week.

Thanks or your patience.

Bye!

NaNoWriMo ends!

All good things must come to and end.

The National Novel Writing Month is almost over, and it saddens me deeply, because, in all honesty, it has changed my writing life.

Aspiring writers go through many challenges, most of us hold regular jobs and have to juggle between work, family and friends and the sacred little time we have left to write. We all have to go through the deep valleys of self-doubt, of over editing and the darkest place of them all: procrastination. We have to forego family outing (especially during the week) or leave our favorite games, movies, and TV series behind. Why? Well, in my case, because I have to. Writing is as essential to my life and eating and breathing, it has become an intrinsically part of my life that without it, a dull, cold and empty void would form at the very heart of my soul. Writing is an extension of who I am and who I want to be, it is to experience, through the eyes and voice of my characters, stories that simply need to burst out of my head.

As an aspiring writer, I made a conscious decision to commit to my writing in the beginning of the year, to forget about being published, or to publish myself, because I have NOTHING to publish. NaNoWriMo has changed my pre-conceived notions of what I am capable of doing and of my own resolve to, well, simply write.

For the past 20 years, an idea evolved into a story, a story evolved into a novel and now, finally, I am seeing the possibility of finishing it, of having a beginning and an end. That has become the most important aspect of my writing right now, and I intend to keep on rolling words, of creating the zero draft, the whole story from scratch, and then edit the heck out of it.

I wanted to write 90k words this month, I am 20k short, and will probably not get there; however, I am not worried about that anymore. This month I have written through blinding migraines and lackluster effort. I have written after long, tiresome days and even longer, restless nights. And I have done so being faithful to what I expect me to be in terms of being an employee, a business owner, a friend, a parent and a husband. I can't ask more out my tired soul.

So, I will keep on writing, I will keep on grinding and eventually, the results will be there, and they will be worth the wait.

Edit: I have changed the layout of the site, I hope you all like it. I will be removing links to some of my outdated work, and will remove the links to the Druid's Grove. I feel that I posted the latter with no editing or revision whatsoever, and will not post until it is fit to be up.

Thanks again!

NaNoWriMo week 4

So much to do and so little time! This phrase has been stuck in my brain the while week, because I have not been able to find time to do everything that I want to do.

NaNoWriMo continued, and is entering its final week. I have been a somewhat lazy once I passed the 50k word mark, and I am still gunning for the 90k, but, I don't think I can get there this week. Regardless of my own goal, I do feel proud that I was able to muster up 50k coherent words (at least at first glance, the editing will commence in January.) about a story I love, with characters that feel like part of a dysfunctional family living inside my head. It has been rewarding and exhausting, but now I know that I am able to write a zero draft in a month or two, instead of years. (I began to write this novel when I was 16, and even though everything has changed since then- it was initially written in Spanish and the protagonist had a strong resemblance to yours truly- the overall story has remained the same since 2002.

Even though I had already loads of pages written, I decided not to use them, because I wanted to start fresh, my writing, for better or worse, has changed in these past nine years, so I wanted to read new words, fresh ideas, and I have been able to do so.

Even though I won't have it ready by the end of the month, I am well on my way of finishing the novel this year, an event that will undoubtedly have me celebrating rowdily by consuming alarming amounts of spirits.

That said, I am looking to finish the month strong and to build on the momentum.

The week is almost over, so there is nothing more to say!

Have a great week and keep on writing!

NaNoWriMo week 2

Oh boy, this last two week have been interesting indeed. Not only because I accepted the challenge of NaNoWriMo, but because so much has happened that I don't know where to begin! I guess I will start, at the beginning then...

This past Saturday, we were finally able to celebrate my boy's birthday party, albeit it was a very small family gathering, my wife and I felt that we owed the little guy his party and I have been really struggling letting go of what happened to him a couple of months back. His was born on September 10, three years ago. This time around, everything was ready for his party, but he fell ill, and I mean, really, really ill. He contracted a nasty bacteria that destroyed his stomach and intestines. I don't know if I have ever been more afraid in my life, than when I got to the emergency room and saw my little boy, pale (he had lost a lot blood via his stool), dark rings around his eyes and the uneasy gaze of not knowing what is happening. I hugged him and tried to tell him that everything would be all right, but I did not know for sure, we had no idea what was going on. Just writing about it is hard...

The good news is that he obviously recovered; he spent 11 days in the hospital, enduring a grueling battle with his IV medicine and the tedium of feeling better but not being able to go anywhere. My wife and I had to split the time between the hospital and home, and I did not want my 5-year-old girl to spend too much time in the pediatric ward of the hospital for obvious reasons. So we never really had time to stop what we were doing and to analyze what has happening, heck, like I wrote above, I have just begun sorting through all the feeling and emotions.

Being able to see him this last Saturday, happy, playing with his toys and with his cousins, it just made my year. A smile from one of my kids wipes all the worries away, that's for sure.

I got sick on Thursday (My wife was the culprit for this one, her new nickname shall be the Petri Dish) and could not get much done in terms of my writing. Friday I was slowly dying (at least I felt that way) and Saturday I had the party and on Sunday I rested, still not feeling 100%. So, now I am 9k words behind on what I want to accomplish from NaNoWriMo. Yesterday I was able to get around 600 words back, and I am determined to write at least 25k words this week. I know that word counts are not that important in the grand scheme of things, but for a professional procrastinator, it has been a life changer. I now have a measurable goal; before NaNoWriMo, I wrote roughly 2k words a day, but now I see that I am perfectly able to write 3k+ daily, in the same amount of time and I owe the knowledge to the Challenge.

Hope you all have a great week and keep on writing!

NaNoWriMo Week 1

Week one of NaNoWriMo has been quite uplifting and good. The hours put into the writing have, in my opinion, been productive and the positives surely outweigh the negatives so far.

I am blessed to be able to work from home in the afternoons (at least for now, if a change needs to made, well, then it will be made) so I can spend those writing hours at home. I am only a closed door away from my wife and kids, so whenever I feel like it, I can take a small break and see what the family is up to (or my kids can barge into my study and ask what I am doing, which I love) or just go say hi and play for a few minutes with them. This month has been no different, even though I am spending more time writing (Our manufacturing keep working until 5:30 pm, sometimes 7 pm, so during those hours I am writing and working) my work and family are not neglected.

Now, my goals were pretty clear when I began: write 3,000 words every day and reach the 90,000 word count at the end of the month.

So far, I am sitting at 14,000 words, I am about 4,000 short of the weekly goal. However, I am certain that I can make up for it in the coming week.

The experiment of writing a novel in a month (well, a draft of a novel actually, at least that is what I believe I am writing) has been good in so many ways that it is difficult to describe them, mainly because those positive changes are mostly about the way I feel about my writing, about the discipline I am learning to dispense on my day to day life; it has spilled over my work ethic, my other goals (losing weight, smoking less or quit smoking altogether, exercising, getting to work on time, not procrastinating, etc.) so I really do recommend this experience to anyone that wants to write anything.

I know that the novel won’t be ready for a long time, but the foundations are going to be written this month and I aim that these words can be a good building block.

Let’s see how this week goes.

I will post some of what I have written later on in the week.

Have a great one!

NaNoWriMo begins!

Well, finally, November is here and with it comes NaNoWriMo, one of the most challenging events I have ever been a part of.

The ominous 50,000 words in one month sounds scary enough (it comes out to roughly 1,600 words per day) but the fact of finishing the novel, be it 50k or more or less words is the real deal for me. I have not finished a novel, EVER. I have only finished 3 short stories, but no novels, so this is a big deal for me, and one of the main reasons I signed up. I fell that is it time that I up the ante on my writing and begin to take it more seriously, or at least be more responsible in terms of discipline.

Like I have stated before in this blog, I want to finish a novel first, then day dream of what I am going to do with it (either self-publishing or sending it around).

I found some very interesting tips around the web, and I will share with you the best list of tips, for me at least, that will help you, if you are signed up for NaNoWriMo.

There is not much else to say this week, I have been preparing my outline and I am ready to go.

I will let you know how I am doing next week.

See you and happy writing!

Links:

http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/2009/11/nano-tip-1-dialog-spine/

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/11/02/nano-tip-no-2-the-zen-of-first-zero-drafts/

NaNoWriMo is approaching!

Hello all! It has been a long time since I missed an update completely, but again I had some health issues, (minor stuff really, but annoying as hell) and work has taken over my life, and I would not have it any other way.

Bu I am glad to be back!

On to this week’s post!!

Books

Well, yesterday I finished Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire, book one of the famed Mistborn trilogy. This is the second Sanderson book I have read, the Way of Kings was the first one, (not counting the Wheel of time books, which I have also read), and I have to say that I am now, a true Sanderson fan. I like how he writes, which is important, I like how he constructs the world around his characters, I love the way he throws us into his world head first, with no noob manual about his cities, its costumes, folklore, legends, fetishes and more importantly, its inhabitants. Also, and I believe this is what I like the most, the books have depth. I live in Mexico City, a third world country, where the wealth is distributed unevenly, to say the least. In his books, Sanderson always tackles the inequalities in his world, harshly and dramatically, but in a sense that one can relate or at least understand to how the wealth of the world is distributed, and I truly like that. I love to feel a connection with the story per se, not only the characters, and The Final Empire gave me that opportunity.

The amazing use of metals (Allomancy) integrated into the story is the icing in the cake, a great use of magic in world devoid of hope.

Sanderson is a brilliant story teller but he also makes me think, and I do value that from my fantasy.

I did not have much time to read the last couple of weeks, The Final Empire is a large book, but yesterday I began this books: (Some were already started :D )

Shadow Games

The Hand of Oberon

The Well of Ascension

Writing

Phew! It has been a very good two weeks for me in terms of writing. I finally have found a way to write 2,000 words per day, but I have not been able to discipline myself into writing on Saturday’s and Sunday’s, it is as if on the weekends, the portion of my brain that allows me to write is turned off. However, I am getting somewhere and I am enjoying the process immensely.

The Druid’s Grove

Is coming along nicely, the Elven story is done and the Human Story is flowing quite nicely. I have been able to write some acts, just random scenes that pop into my head every now and then, for when the three stories merge into one, and being able to write them, and then move on to the chapters has been quite satisfying.

X

I will be working on the story for the remainder of the month, aiming at having an actual first draft done by Oct 31^st. I am in no rush of getting this story done, because I feel that it is good, so I will take my time to edit and rewrite it.

NaNoWriMo

I am excited and, to be honest, afraid, of what I have signed up to do. Beginning on November 1^st, I will have 30 days to finish a novel. :D The goal is to write 50,000 words in a month, and I don’t know if will be able to do so, but I will certainly try. I am going to write a novel that has been inside my head for more than half my life now, Children of Sea, and I cant wait to see what I have done a month from now. This is an excellent tool to get my lazy butt off and running, and will be a great exercise as well. I am confident that I will be able to write the 50,000 words, but I do not know if I will be disciplined enough to do so, if that makes sense.

So, all of November, in terms of time and resources, I will spend them writing the novel I have wanted to write all of my life.

Games

With me being under the weather, again, I decided to relax and to revisit one of the games that I believe to be one of the greatest RPG’s ever made: Dragon Age: Origins.

It still is.

The music is just one of the many details that create a whole that is better than its counterparts, it elevates you when you need a boost, it brings you down when you are talking to your companions, and it urges you to go in the missions and makes you peek around corners looking for enemies. The voice acting is exceptional; each character is played with care and knowledge.

The story, much like the world, is enormous and generous, and it actually feels like you are part of the story, rather than only an spectator.

The graphics are good and the overall quality of the game is superb. I don’t think we will ever see another RPG quite as complete and beautiful than this one.

I will see you all next week!

Guns of Avalon

Good Tuesday to all! This has been a fun week for me, and I hope it was a good for you too. On to this week’s post!

Books

I am still well into my romance with The 1^st Chronicles of Amber. I read book 2 and 3, Guns of Avalon and Sign of the Unicorn.

Guns of Avalon is a great sequel to Nine Princes in Amber, it has so much depth and the descriptions of the places the Princes call Shadows reach epic and oneiric proportions. Corwin’s quest of conquering Amber is derailed, but his determination to sit on the throne rivals only that of his brother Eric, who is the actual ruler of Amber. This is a book that allows us to get closer to Corwin, thus revealing some of the truth hidden inside his imperfect memories.

Sign of the Unicorn is a faster book; it has a relentless pace that will navigate us through the political turmoil and family conspiracies brewing in Amber. The Shadow Road might be explained, the curse Corwin launched might come back to haunt him, brothers lost might be found and allies might become traitors. The key word here is might :P

The books were written in the early seventies, and it shows. This is a brand of fantasy that has a message behind it, not hidden, but subtle in its presence. This is a series about family, about loss, power, politics, treason and Shadows, the latter are wondrous worlds created and inhabited by the Princes, or their own shadows. I had wanted to read a fantasy series that evoked the sort of epic world where I could visit and relax, and rest my mind, and Amber is such a place.

I am already reading book 4, The Hand of Oberon.

I still managed to squeak by a few more chapters of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire, Volume 1 of the Mistborn trilogy (or quartet, since a new book of the series is due to be released a month from now). Like much of what I have read from him, the book is just massive, the people that inhabit his worlds are rich and colorful and interesting, customs and folklore and magic are well balanced and make for a great read. I will post more of this book next week, but again, what I have read is really good.

The Dresden Files are still on hold; I did not manage to read a single page of the first book, Storm Front, but will try to get a few chapters under my belt this week.

The Black Company is no longer on hiatus! I did manage to read quite a few chapters of the fourth book, Shadow Games, but wont comment on the book until I am done, hopefully next week. Croaker, I still love you!

Games

I am playing Dragon Age again; in between session of Final Fantasy VII of course (I am in Disc three, so I will take it easy and milk it as much as I can). Dragon Age: Origins is one of the greatest games I have ever played in my life. The scale of the world, the voice acting, the animations, the cut scenes, the story and the characters that will accompany you throughout makes this one the best RPG’s ever made. I have played this game twice already, both times (go figure) I played following the Human Noble origin story and because I bought the Digital Deluxe edition, I had a couple of quests that added a very good ally in Shale and gave me a place to keep my stuff (Storage space is a bitch in this game) in Warden’s Keep.

I usually like to play characters (in games where choices do have some sort of impact on the development of the story), tending to be more on the good side. With the two human characters I managed to fall in love with Morrigan, the sexy witch everybody hates to love or loves to hate.

For this go around though, I created a City Elf and will try to be more on the neutral side. I will let you now how I am doing.

Still waiting for SWOTOR to be launched!

Writing

Well, on Friday my two writing buddies and I discussed and dissected my short story, X’s Game, so that now I can edit and rewrite it at will, for the second and third drafts. The good news it that the story is a go, they liked it, the bad news, well, there are no real bad news. It still has a long way to go and I need to work on it still. But, we are getting there!

The Druid’s Grove is coming along fine, today I hope to finish Chapter 20 and will be a couple of chapters shy of finishing the Elven part of the story, which is the real meat and potatoes of the story. The Human and Dwarven part are going to be smaller. I love to write!

I have laid my goals for the final weeks of the year. I want to be writing 10,000 words per week, 2,000 words per day (I won’t write on Saturdays and Sundays, not yet anyway) and last week I fell short 3,000, but I am getting there.

The Druid’s Grove word count: 36,811

See you all next week.

Nine Princes in Amber

Hello all! Hope you are having a good start of the week. The past few weeks I have been unable to update the blog on Mondays, for some strange reason I am now too busy on Mondays to do a decent update, so from now on, Tuesdays will be chosen day for updates. On to this week’s post!

Life went back to normal last week, well, as normal as it can get, and this is what I have been up to:

Books

Well, I think I have discovered another great fantasy series: The Chronicles of Amber. The Nine Princes in Amber is not your cookie cutter fantasy novel, and you might have a bit trouble at first of understanding what the book is about, but once you do, you will not want to stop reading.

The book follows the adventures of a mysterious man who was involved in an accident, and has partial amnesia, as he discovers his place in a world that seems a bit strange to him. He will be surrounded by people he identifies as being important, but that he cannot identify as friend, or foe. He will discover a deck of cards that will jar his memories and will incite the adventure to regain his life.

The book is veiled in mystery and in intrigue, enveloping Corwin, the main character, in a web of frail and hostile family relationships, of not knowing who to trust among his various siblings. I won’t write more of the book because I don’t want to spoil the story for those who want to read it, but I highly recommend you give this book a try.

I am reading book two, Guns of Avalon and will finish it during the week.

I am also reading, well, trying to finish anyway, Pattern Recognition, but the reading has been slow and treacherous. I.have.to.finish.it.

I am a big fan of mystery novels as well. My dad bought, a long time ago, the whole Agatha Christie bibliography, and I since I was about 12, I have read most of them. So I got hooked on the genre, and again thanks to my dad, I discovered novelists like Leslie Charteris (the creator of The Saint), Harold Robbins, Robert Ludlum and Patricia Highsmith. The latter became one of my favorite authors, and one of her characters, Thomas Ripley, is as dear to me as Huma, or Raistlin, or Gandalf are.

So, I am going to dive right into Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files this week, and see how it goes, hoping that a good mystery set in a world where magic and vampire and monster are real, will entertaining and good.

I am also craving for a good historical novel. I am a HUGE fan of Wilbur Smith’s work, and River God remains on top of my all time favorite books, along with the Sun Bird. He manages to combine good stories, romance, adventure and magic (Taita anyone?) with a historical backdrop that just make his books irresistible. I think I will give Smith’s Courtney series a look.

Another writer that I like in this same genre is Judith Tarr, and her stand alone books like The White Mare’s Daughter or The Shepherd Kings are also among my favorites. She has some fantasy novels out there, and will try to give those a look as well.

The Black Company is on vacation until I finish some of the books listed above :D

Writing

Well, it has been a good week for me. I have begun to understand my own writing process and I am proud of being to stick to my own daily word count goals and to advance at the rate I want to do so. Writing 2,000 words might not seem like a lot, but 10,000 words a week, at least, begins to unveil the clear destination of finishing my first draft of the novel. For the Druid’s grove, I am about 30,000 words into the first draft, and I want the novel to be finished in December. Again, this will de the first draft and it will still a lot of work, but the first step is actually writing it and I am well underway.

The short story for the contest is now being edited and reviewed, I think I need to rewrite very few scenes, because the story flows, well, at least I liked it :D.  The story should be ready and sent before the October 31^st deadline I set last month.

Also, I am writing a small horror story for another contest, as well as a small short sci-fi/fantasy story. Both should be under 4,000 words, but the ideas that I have should make my stories shorter. Those will be written and edited within the next two weeks, all the while I will still be working on the Grove.

I know that is a lot on my writing plate, but I need this, I need to write as much as possible.

Well, I will see you all next week!