Fall 2017 update

I haven't posted much here, but I have been busy. In December, I got a new day-job ... I'm back working with computers, yay! It's a great job, and I've really been enjoying it, but there's been a lot to learn and do, so I haven't had as much time for creative stuff as I'd like. (I've done a little writing and editing, but not as much as I should have...) Speaking of creative stuff, A New Threat is in the process of finding a new home. The previous publisher is scaling back for a variety of reasons, so A New Threat is moving over to Splashdown books. It's getting a fresh edit (I swear I could read the book a billion times and always find at least one thing I'd like to change...) and should be available late fall to early winter. In other creative news, I've been busy over at the Lasers, Dragons, and Keyboards podcast. We've been recording interviews with a bunch of different authors and other creative types, so look for new episodes soon. I again went to Realm Makers this year and saw a lot of old friends, made some new ones, and learned and was inspired by the best.

What are the best examples of spec-fic CARTOON movies or shorts?

Over at the Lasers, Dragons, and Keyboards Facebook page, we asked, "What are the best examples of spec-fic CARTOON movies or shorts?"

So, here is my answer:

Oh, so many. Here are some of my favorites, sometimes with an explanation, or other commentary.

Star Trek: The Animated Series
Yes, there was a Star Trek cartoon. You know the line in the opening credits, "... it's five-year mission..." and there were only three seasons of the show. Well, the Animated Series covers the last two years of the Enterprise's mission.

Pros: the entire original cast returns to voice their characters. An animated setting lets the  Animated Series explore themes and stories that, for either money or technology limits, were un-filmable on the live-action TV show. The series even won awards for a few episodes.

Cons: The animation. Even by 70's standards it was pretty cheap.



Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The Clone wars cartoon takes place between Episode 2, and Episode 3. Great stuff. New characters, and more time with old characters. If you ever thought that things deteriorated way to fast between Episodes 2 and 3, then watch this show. It takes the time to show Palpentine's plan unfold. And, it really shows the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and makes Anakin's fall in Episode 3 have some real emotion.

Star Wars: Rebels
... and here we have what happened before Episode 4. Awesome new characters, returning favorites from The Clone Wars, and they're starting to tie into events and characters from ANH.

Titan A.E.
It's been a while since I watched this, so I don't remember the details much, but I really enjoyed it. I should go re-watch it... Wait... found the DVD.. from the back:

"It's the year 3028 and the Drej, a vicious alien race, have destoryed Earth. Fifteen years later a youn man named Cole learns he possesse a genetically encoded map to the Titan, a spaceship that holds the secret to the salvastion of the human race. With the Drej in ho pursuit, Cole blasts off with the new crew of the Valkyrie in an attempt to find the Titan before the Drej destroy it... along with mankind's last chance for a home of their own."

Stargate: Infinity
First, if you haven't seen Stargate, go watch that. After the movie came out, they wanted to play with the world a little, and this is one of the things that came up. It's a continuation of the Stargate movie, but set in the future. Later, Stargate SG:1 came out, and that was set in a different timeline/reality. (So, if you're expecting any continuity between the two, you won't find it...)
Still, Stargate Infinity is a good show in it's own right.

Mobile Suit Gundam
The Gundam universe has spawned a LOT of sequels, and I think it has more spin-offs than Star Trek and Star Wars.
The basic plot across all the series is that humanity has colonized the solar system, and some of the colonies brake off and become independent... violently...
The war technology escalates until both sides are battling with giant robots.
Not just fun tech, Gundam is also known for exploring politics and human emotion and motivation.

Outlaw Star
This show has spaceships, magic artifacts, and a legendary power that the space-mafia (my words) is trying to get it's hands on. Gene, our hero, dreams of going into space... unfortunately, he's got a bit of a phobia about it... He starts out as a drunken bum, but turns into a man of character. There's action, adventure, comedy, and characters and a universe you'll fall in love with.

Cowboy Bebop
Seriously, if you haven't seen this.... Well, you have to...
There's space bounty hunters, mafia assassins, hidden pasts and one of the best soundtracks ever.

Read Or Die
Here's one for my writer friends. What if you were such a bookworm, you could manipulate paper at will? Yomiko is a Paper Master. When she doesn't have her nose in a book, she's working as an agent for The Library using her manipulation of paper to battle all sorts of literary evil.

Slayers
And here's one for the fantasy fans. Slayers is straight-up sword and sorcery fantasy... in the style of Mel Brooks....

There's literally dozens more I could list, but these are some of my favorites, and/or some you may not have heard of. List yours in the comments!

Reader question: How to not indent the first line of just some paragraphs in an ePub book?

Today, we have a reader question:

"Hi, I've used your awesome tutorial on a short story and now I'm using it again on a novel.

Just wondering if you know a way to stop the first line of a new chapter being indented? It seems I'd need to add something into the stylesheet to make this happen but I wouldn't know what."

 

To see the tutorial he's talking about, head over here: http://www.jedisaber.com/eBooks/Introduction.shtml

On to the answer:

CSS classes are what you're looking for (google that for a lot more info...)


Now, the below should work, but not all ePub readers are really good about properly displaying everything the ePub format supports. (In other words, this should work, but it might not in all readers.)


The code in the stylesheet that makes the first line of each paragraph indent is this:

p {text-indent: .3in;
    margin-left:0;
    margin-right:0;
    margin-top:0;
    margin-bottom:0;
    text-align: justify;
    font-family:"Times New Roman";}

So, first, you'd want to add code to the stylesheet like thus:

p.plain {margin-left:0;
    margin-right:0;
    margin-top:0;
    margin-bottom:0;
    text-align: justify;
    font-family:"Times New Roman";}

the ".plain" part can be anything you want, but you want it to be regular text (no spaces or other special characters), rather short, and unique.

The "text-indent: .3in;" line is what causes every HTML <p> tag to be indented. (The <p> is HTML for "paragraph") By removing that, our "plain" paragraphs won't indent the first line.

Great. So how do we tell our ebook that a paragraph isn't a regular paragraph?

Open your HTML file in a text editor (or, if your using Sigil, which I highly recommend), click the Code View button (it's the one that looks like "<>")

Find the paragraph you don't want to indent. Let's say it looks like this:

<p>This is the paragraph I don't want to indent the first line of.</p>

Change it to look like this:

<p class="plain">This is the paragraph I don't want to indent the first line of.</p>

And that should do it!

Book Review: Storming by K.M. Weiland

Today's book Reivew is Storming, by K.M. Weiland

From the "Back of the Book:"

"In the high-flying, heady world of 1920s aviation, brash pilot Robert "Hitch" Hitchcock's life does a barrel roll when a young woman in an old-fashioned ball gown falls from the clouds smack in front of his biplane. As fearless as she is peculiar, Jael immediately proves she's game for just about anything, including wing-walking in his struggling airshow. In return for her help, she demands a ride back home . . . to the sky.

Hitch thinks she's nuts--until he steers his plane into the midst of a bizarre storm and nearly crashes into a strange airship like none he's ever run afoul of, an airship with the power to control the weather. Caught between a corrupt sheriff and dangerous new enemies from above, Hitch must take his last chance to gain forgiveness from his estranged family, deliver Jael safely home before she flies off with his freewheeling heart, and save his Nebraska hometown from storm-wielding sky pirates."

Cons:

- The book bills itself as "diesel-punk." There might be one diesel engine in the whole story, but it's never referred to as such. It'd be nicer to have some more diesel based tech in the world. It's more like historical fiction with a few very mild fantasy elements thrown in. Not that that's a bad thing, I like historical fiction...

- I figured out who Walter was at about the 17% mark. This isn't really a bad thing, but it's treated like this big mystery that none of the characters have a clue about... yeah, if you can add, you'll be at least a little suspicious...

Pros:

- Everything... The hero is great. Hitch has a lot of heroic qualities, but he's been running away from problems all his life.

- Jael is awesome. She a little quirky, wild, and lots of fun to hang out with (well, in the second half of the book... she's a little dangerous to hang out with in the first half of the book....) And she's perfect for Hitch... if only either of them would realize it...

- The book really captures the adventure and excitement of the barnstorming pilot days. Makes me want to fire up the flight simulator.


Overall, four stars, easy. Great fun, (almost) couldn't put it down (wife wanted something at one point. I said, "But there's a girl hanging from an airplane!" She let me keep reading...) I really hope there's a sequel.

Book Review: Kitsune Tsuki

Today's Book review is Kitsune Tsuki, by Laura VanArendonk Baugh. From the "back of the book:"

"How does one find a shape-shifter who may not even exist?

The onmyouji Tsurugu no Kiyomori, a practitioner of the mystic arts, has been engaged to protect the warlord's new bride from the fox spirit rumored to be near. Tsurugu and the shadow-warrior Shishio Hitoshi face an impossible challenge in teasing out a kitsune shapeshifter from the samurai and servants –- if such a creature is even present at all.

The handsome mute twin servants belonging to Lady Kaede are certainly suspicious, but it is the beautiful and strong-willed lady herself who draws Shishio’s mistrust. Tsurugu and Shishio must move carefully, for accusing the warlord’s bride falsely would be death. But failing to identify the kitsune to the warlord is equally perilous, and there is more to discover. For an onmyouji knows secrets even the shadows do not….

Kitsune-Tsuki is a historical fiction novelette, the introduction to the series KITSUNE TALES"

Cons:

- This book is too short. :)

- If you're not at least slightly familiar with a few Japanese words, or some cultural background, this story is going to be a little overwhelming at first. There is an included glossary to help with this, but there's a lot of Japanese words, place names, and character names.

Pros:

- This is just a wonderful tale set in historical alt-Japan. The story really gets the fell of Japanese culture, and pulls from several different elements of Japanese folklore.

- The ending is a surprise twist the fits with the theme, and sets up the sequel. (I'd go more into it, but spoilers.... ;) )

Overall, I give it four and half stars. I really loved this story. It was a fun little mystery with some great characters, fun plot twists, and a story world that I want to spend more time in.

 

Book Review: Robo Raptors and the Gutsy Rebels

From the "Back of the Book:"

"When 2000 lives are at stake, the Defiant Few, an elite rebel team, has no choice but to intervene.
But in this dark conspiracy, who can they trust?

Word about a plot to attack a civilian cruise liner gets to Jones, Dark Horse rebel mastermind. His elite team, the Defiant Few, mobilize. They assume the enemy’s scheme is more than what it seems. But what? Is it a trap set by M.A.S.K. or the Confederacy, or both, to acquire a Dark Horse ship rigged with Rory West’s super-advanced technology?

Without evidence, they can’t know which of their enemies is willing to kill innocents for tech treasure. They need intel while they plan for countermeasures. So they ready a trap of their own; one where fourteen-year-old Rory’s androids and robo-raptors could make all the difference. Will the Dark Horse rebels outsmart their enemies one more time?"

Cons:
- The plot jumps back and forth a little in the beginning of the book. This takes a little getting used to, as there's at least three main factions. Once you figure out what's going on, you get a look into what's happening big-picture.
- The ending felt a little rushed in a "Here, Clueless Character, let me explain what happened to you" way. It wasn't quite that bad, but bordered on it. It would have been nice to have one more scene to play everything out that was happening somewhere else.
- The good guys have a bit too much of an edge tech-wise. I never felt they were in any real danger, as they always were one step ahead of everyone else.

Pros:
- This was a fun read. I enjoyed the characters, the plot was fast-paced, and there were plenty of funny parts interspersed throughout.
- There was a lot of character diversity here. Gristled veterans, sneaky villains, over the top villains, clueless officers caught in the middle.
- Fun tech. Come on, who doesn't want to read a book about robot dinosaurs?
- Old-fashioned heros. These days, most heros have to be dark, struggling, broody, weighed-down emotionally...  Every once in a while, it's nice to have a classic hero character, someone who's got it all together, knows the right thing to do, and does it all the time. Now, if over-done, that can get cliche... In this book, its not over-done. The hero characters aren't main characters, and they get properly used as people for the main characters to look up to.

Overall, I liked this book. I reminded me of a sci-fi B movie... no, not that way, in a good way.
It's a little over the top in places, and doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a fun ride, with heroes, villains, and lots of action. Four stars, easy. Would read again.

I'm not dead! ... Really...

Wow, it's been longer than I thought between posts here...

It's been a busy summer. Both day jobs have been busy, Realm Makers was fun, and I've been busy with the Lasers, Dragons, and Keyboards podcast.

I'll have a blog post up on Realm Makers eventually, and I really should remember to post here when we interview someone over at LDK.

So far this summer, we've talked to:
- Randy Streu
- Mary Ruth Pursselley
- Kessie Carroll
- Patrick Carr
- Mike Durran
- Tosca Lee
- Amy McNew
- Kat Heckenbach

... and more! So, I have been busy, just forgot to talk about it...

Also, I have been reading, but some of that has been beta-reading novels that aren't out yet, so I can't talk about it. Let's just say some good stuff is coming...

Win a copy of A New Threat...

I'm still alive! I'll have a new bog post up soonish. In the meantime, go win a book:

I'm giving away a copy of A New Threat over on Goodreads. Go enter to win!

So I Finally Switched to Linux...

I first encountered Linux back when I was in high school, around 1997, or 1998. At that point, I knew I wanted to do something with computers, and I'd come across Linux.
My first distro was Red Hat. I believe it was version 7.2 (I either bought the Red Hat Linux Bible, that came with a copy, and later got a boxed copy from Circuit City, or the other way around. I don't remember now.)

This was back in the days of dial-up internet. I'd already setup a home network for sharing files and printers. I installed Red Hat on an old computer, and configured it as a software router to share the dial-up connection with the rest of the network. I even had it set to automatically re-dial the connection if it dropped. (Yes, we had a second line just for the dial-up connection.)

That server lasted for several years until a combination of two things convinced me to replace it.
1. We finally had another option than dial-up internet available in our area.
2. I was studying for my Windows 2000 server exam, and wanted a Win2k network to learn on.

The old Red Hat box wouldn't run 2000 server, so I went down to Best Buy and got the cheapest computer they had (this was a few years after 2000 server came out, so it still met the specs.) When I went to check out, they asked me if I wanted the extended warranty. I'm thinking, hmm, the first thing I'm going to do when I get home is add RAM, a bigger hard drive, and install Win2k server... so, uh, no...

It came with Windows ME on it, so before I turned it into a server, I booted ME to play with for a while... to see if it was as bad as everyone said. It was worse. It crashed on me a few times, and I only had it running for a few hours. I powered it down, upgraded the hardware, and installed Windows 2000 server. Sometime around the same time (it might have been a few months prior...) the Red Hat machine was shutdown and replaced with a tiny little router. Ah, broadband.... *smile* (Well, it was a 1 to 2 mb connection, but it was exponentially faster than a 32k connection shared with three or four computers... Yes, 32k... it was supposed to be a 56k connection, but the line quality out in the middle of nowhere leaves something to be desired...) Sadly, the hardware for the Red Hat machine went to the junkyard.

That cheap e-machine was the best computer I've ever had. It ran 24/7 serving up files, a web development test server, and running what was possibly the smallest Active Directory network ever for over ten years, only getting a brief nap (let alone reboot) when the power went out (well, it was on a UPS, so the power had to stay out for a few minutes...)

Around the time the Red Hat machine was shutdown, Mandrake Linux had a really good reputation (Not to mention that Red Hat, now Fedora, switched from KDE to GNOME as it's primary desktop, and I can't stand GNOME, especially GNOME 3...), so I had that dual-booting with Windows 2000 on my desktop computer, but I just played with it a bit, it wasn't really my main computer.

A few years and some upgrades later, I had SUSE Linux (I don't remember now what made me choose SUSE...) triple booting with Windows 98SE and Windows XP. (And that's not counting the laptop that was dual-booting OSX and Windows XP.) Still, I was mostly using Windows. Why triple boot, you ask? Mostly just because I could. I was even doing it with the Windows boot loader, instead of GRUB... now that was a challenge. At the time, I was doing a lot of work with a bunch of different proprietary programs, none of which would run under Linux. Linux had several programs which would do almost the same thing, but not quite (plus, I was used to the way the ones I was using worked), and a few that actually worked better (I would still LOVE to have the Kate text editor on Windows...)

The hard drive in the computer finally died, and when I put a new one in, I just loaded Windows on it. Still, I had Linux running in a VM just to play with.

And that brings us to today. Microsoft has ended support for Windows XP. Windows 7 was a little wonky to use, but bearable. Vista was junk, Windows 8 was worse yet. Windows 10 is great compared to 8, but Windows 7 is still better. So, after reading Linux forums, and playing with SUSE 13.2 in a VM, it hit me. KDE, at this point, is better than even Windows 7. Most of the stuff I depend on these days is a web app, and Firefox has always run on every platform. Most of the current Linux tools had matured enough that they now work better than the ten-year-old Windows programs I was using for various tasks (hey, they work, and they work better, and/or are cheaper than modern Windows programs...) Gwenview, KDE's basic photo viewer, alone replaces and works better than three different programs I was using for quick-and-dirty photo cropping and resizing. Most of the modern programs I was using were open-source, anyways, and had been developed first for Linux (Sigil, Firefox, Calibre, GIMP, Inkscape, Filezilla...) And, WINE has matured enough that it now runs most of the Windows programs I need.

I'm still dual-booting Windows 10 and SUSE Leap 42.1, but now Linux is my main OS, and I only go to Windows for the occasional game or such.

So, how about you? Anyone running Linux, or tried it?

Book Review: A Sea of Purple Ink

Today's book review is A Sea of Purple Ink, by Rebekah Shafer.

From the "back of the book:"

"Once their gifts made them heroes. Now they’re branded as traitors. 

Reese Davis has been on the run for years. Her crimes include being born with a supernaturally quick mind, and doing everything within her power to protect the other outlaws from the paranoid king.

Every day is a fight to survive as Reese leads her small gang in a calculated game against the secret police, who are obsessed with finding and arresting anyone with special abilities. Her mission is to locate others with abilities, sneak them out from under the police’s noses, and spirit them away to safety. But dodging the police is difficult work even for a mastermind, and when a rescue turns into disaster, Reese stumbles upon evidence of a frightening conspiracy and learns that the king is no longer her worst enemy. In fact, he doesn’t seem to remember who he is.

Faced with what could be an elaborate trap, or worse, Reese must help the man who made her an outlaw survive the havoc he created, or risk the creation of an even more ruthless regime.

Blending alternative fantasy, dystopia, and superpowers, A Sea of Purple Ink is an intriguing, adventurous ride for ages 16 and up."

I don't normally like dystopias, but I do like superpowers, good writing, and fun characters. The story sucked me in, and I burned (pun intended) through this book in about three hours.

The story reminds me of Mistborn, in all the good ways. (There's mists, and people with different abilities living in a dystopia.) The characters abilities are different, and wording unique to the world is used for the abilities, giving the world an almost Steampunk feel. Which is a nice break from the medieval feel for most fantasy, or the future setting for most dystopias.

Over the course of the book we get to know Reese, her sometimes boyfriend, and the king pretty well. Sadly, we don't learn as much about the other characters. They still have plenty of depth, but from both the first-person perspective, and the fact that the story isn't about them don't let us get to know them as well. Niela, for example. She's Reese's friend, she's had trouble drinking and fighting, but we don't know much else about her.

My biggest problem with this book is that it doesn't have a sequel. I want to spend more time in this world, get to know the other characters, and find out what happens next.

I give this book four and a half stars, easy. It'd probably get bumped up to five if the author writes a sequel that's this good (I like to stay in worlds I like. In my opinion, it adds to the story world if there's more to it than one book.)

Win another free book!

So, my co-conspirators and I just interviewed Jeff Gerke at Lasers, Dragons, and Keyboards. As part of the interview, we're giving away a copy of Jeff's book: The Irresistible Novel!

Check out below for how you can win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Darkened Hope

Blurb:

Ayianna is a cursed half-elf betrothed to Desmond, but her heart belongs to another. After discovering the cure for the Sorceress's curse, she and her companions embark on a dangerous quest to retrieve the ingredients. 

When dragons descend upon their party, Ayianna realizes the Sorceress is searching not just for the corrupted dagger, but a human sacrifice that will open a portal to the underworld. Battling deadly creatures and natural disasters, Ayianna is forced more and more to confront her insecurities and conflicted heart.

Now she must decide whether to be true to her family or true to herself. As the nations rally for war, betrayal threatens to destroy them all, and it's a race against time to return before the curse devastates the plains people.

Coming in May 2016

Author bio:

Writing as J. L. Mbewe, Jennette is an author, artist, mother, wife, but not always in that order. Born and raised in Minnesota, she now braves the heat of Texas, but pines for the Northern Lights and the lakes of home every autumn. She loves trying to capture the abstract and make it concrete. She is currently living her second childhood with a wonderful husband and two precious children who don’t seem to mind her eclectic collections of rocks, shells, and swords, among other things. Here, between reality and dreams, you will find her busily creating worlds inhabited by all sorts of fantasy creatures and characters, all questing about and discovering true love amid lots of peril. She has two short stories published in The Clockwork Dragon anthology, and four short stories set in the world of Nälu. Her debut novel, Secrets Kept, was nominated for the 2014 Clive Staples Award, and its sequel, Darkened Hope is coming May 2016.

Stay up-to-date with all things Nälu and her journey as a writer mama at JLMbewe.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest.

Extras

Secrets Kept, the first book in the Hidden Dagger Trilogy will be on sale for .99

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Kept-Hidden-Dagger-Book-ebook/dp/B00WBV3WU6

The short story, A Princess No More, will be free.

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-More-Tale-N%C3%A4lu-Book-ebook/dp/B00JWA3CWM

Book Review: Forged Steel

Today's Book Review is Forged Steel, by H.A. Titus.

From the "Back of the book:"

"Downtown. Coffee shop. 2 AM.
One minute, Josh is firing off sarcastic remarks at his best friend Marc – the next, they’re running from shape-shifters. Apparently, even best friends don’t share all their secrets.
Now Josh is in danger. He can see the monsters among the humans.
When Marc is kidnapped, Josh finds himself pulled into the schemes of the fae courts, and throws in his lot with Marc’s allies: the lovely Larae, a human named David, and the fighter, Eliaster. But what began as a rescue mission becomes something much more involved…
And all Josh wants to do is get out before it’s too late."

I haven't read much urban fantasy, but what I have read, I like. You get all the fun of 'traditional' fantasy, but none of the cliched settings, food, etc.

There's several fun things about this book. For one, instead of the usual Brittish/German fairy-world most fantasies draw from, the world of Forged Steel is influenced by Irish folklore. This mixes things up a little and adds a lot of flavor. Another thing is Josh's reactions. In most stories, the main character just up and joins in on the adventure. The main way authors like to mix this up is to have him not want to go at all. Josh's reaction is to freak out. Hey, no matter how cool you think you are, if you saw people using movie-style magic for real right in front of you, you'd freak out too. After that, he tries his best to do the right thing.

The other characters are well done too. Eliaster is the 'white-knight' type, but he's also secretive. Larae comes across as part love interest role, part sidekick, yet right from the start you get the feeling that something's not quite right about her, but you can't quite put a finger on what.

The plot is fun and engaging, Josh gets pulled in and has to help his friend/flee for his life. As stated above, I really like how this is done. Josh joining the fae to help Marc feels natural and not forced. He's neither too reluctant, nor too gung-ho about the situation. It's balanced just right so it sucks you in and immerses you in the story.

The only complaints I have are minor technical things. In one scene, Josh writes a computer program. No problem. He's a computer geek, and it's established he has experience doing this. My problem is two-fold. 1. He writes the computer program in a word processor. This is laughable. 2. He writes the program because they need to desperately get buried information off a hard drive. Okay, there are programs that do this.... and that's the problem. There are programs that do this. Any self-respecting geek keeps a USB full of handy utilities with them. There's no need to write a program from scratch when you can just go download one. Especially when you're in a hurry. And/or when the information is critical. You don't want to be finding and fixing bugs when the data you're working on is real and important. You use test data you don't care about for that.

But, it's a minor issue, and bugs me 'cause I've spent ten years in tech support. Most people won't notice it, and it doesn't break the story.

The other issue I have is that Josh learns to use a sword because it's fantasy, and swords are cool. I don't have a problem with that either. Swords are cool. The issue comes in because they have guns. A guy with a sword knocks a gun out of Josh's hand when Josh freezes and can't shoot him. I don't have experience here, but I've read that most people do freeze when facing the possibility of killing someone when they've never killed before. This scene is nicely done, and adds to the realism of the story. The problem is that another character tells him that guns are no good for close-range fighting and swords are loads better. That just isn't true. There's a reason that guns replaced swords.

Still, minor problems.

I really liked the book, and can't wait for the next installment. Four stars!

Bonus: Listen to some friends and I interview the author.

Book Review: Dragonfriend

Today's book review, Dragonfriend, Marc Secchia

From the "Back of the Book:"

"Stabbed. Burned by a dragon. Abandoned for the windrocs to pick over. The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw, and the courage of a girl who refused to die.

Only an extraordinary friendship will save Hualiama’s beloved kingdom of Fra’anior and restore the King to the Onyx Throne. Flicker, the valiant dragonet. Hualiama, a foundling, adopted into the royal family. The power of a friendship which paid the ultimate price.

This is the tale of Hualiama Dragonfriend, and a love which became legend."

Lia is a royal ward - the adopted daughter of the king. At the beginning of the book the traitor throws her out of a dirigible. She's saved by a dragonet, and it's the start of a beautiful friendship.

The plot is fairly standard for fantasy, but the focus is on the characters. Specifically, the relationships between Lia and her dragon friends. This was a really fun read that I completely enjoyed.

Secchia has created a rich world with a nice take on dragons here. The dragons aren't the traditional evil, nor the modern super-friendly, but instead have a complex society of their own. It was really fun spending time with them, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

If there was one flaw, it was with the plotting. It does move a little slowly. I don't mind this, because the book is character driven, and most of the time is spent developing and exploring relationships. I love books like this when it's done right, and Dragonfriend does it very well. There are a few fight scenes to keep the political plot and mystery surrounding Lia going, but, if you're expecting action packed, it's not.

Four stars, easy. Possibly five if the next books in the series are just as good or better.

Book Review: Shatterwold

Today's book review: Shatterworld, by Lelia Rose Foreman

From the "Back of the book":

"Fleeing persecution and low on fuel, religious refugees from Old Earth find themselves stranded on a planet with a dark history. The promise of a future is shadowed by a dreadful past. Twelve-year-old Rejoice Holly is expected to someday become a farmer's wife, and set aside her dreams of astronomy. But the discovery that their Promised Land is already inhabited isn't helping her struggle between duty and dreams. Peace seems precarious, and the voice of reason is being silenced by one of fear.

As a new danger looms, the friendship or enmity forged could save or doom them all. Will the colonists and natives be able to set aside their differences for the sake of survival?"



So, basically we have here, "What if the Pilgrims happened in the future, and instead of coming to America, they went to a different planet?"
Most of the characters are the stereotypical Puritan types, follow the rules to the point of legalism, don't listen to the kids, do your job, etc. The main character, Rejoice, is a teen girl who wants to study astronomy. Most of the adults don't see how that would help the colony at all, so she's "encouraged" to pursue something "useful."

The neatest part of the book are the aliens. One of the challenges to the status quo of the colony is that the world is inhabited. Foreman did a great job with the aliens, they're actually alien. No "lets slap some putty on his nose and call him an alien" here (I get why Star Trek did it, but why do so many books? Sure, you can still have a compelling story that way, but it's nice to explore a world where imagination is let loose and you can actually explore the "what if's" of what alien life would look like.)

I don't want to spoil the ending, but Rejoice gets to use her passions for practical purposes, and everyone learns some lessons along the way.

This was a fun read, and I really enjoyed it. Four stars.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Spoiler Review

So, I finally got to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens


Note, this review does contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen it yet, leave now...



I'm going to try and organize this into stuff I didn't like, then stuff that I did like, but I may wander a bit.

THE BAD: (or meh, or confusing... not all of this is 'bad'...)

- I was expecting a sequel. What we got instead is a reboot of A New Hope, with a few sequel elements thrown in. I mean, we have Jakku, which is the same as Tatooine, an orphan living there who doesn't know anything about her parents, an ace rebel x-wing pilot, the Falcon getting tractored into a hanger, a death star (bigger, badder!), the heroes sneak around on the death star,  a weak target on said death star that the x-wings have to take out before the rebel base is blown up, an x-wing trench run, a quirky droid that saves the day, a bad guy in a black mask with a deep voice, the list goes on an on. Not to say that this makes it a bad movie, it's done, for the most part, quite well. Most of it's just re-hashed. So, we got the plot of ANH, but none of the optimism. But people seem to like the dark these days...  But that's a whole 'nother essay... (and, honestly, opinion, neither right nor wrong...)

- Speaking of that, Abrams can't seem to do subtle. In Star Trek, we got a redshirt who died, but instead of quietly dying in the line of duty, perhaps saving Kirk and making the character grow, it's shoved in our faces. He dies of his own stupidity, and it's shoved in our faces as though we wouldn't catch that it's a homage to a TOS redshirt if was done subtlety.
Same thing in TFA. I'm sure there's some references I'll catch on the second viewing that are more of an homage, but there's a LOT of 'shoved in your face, see, look, a Star Wars reference!' stuff, like the list in the point above.

- Lack of answers. All the questions you have going into this movie. Only one or two of them will be answered by the end.
The big one: EVERYONE wants to know "Where's Luke?" He was the main character in the first trilogy, the son of the main character of the prequels. He was (almost) everyone's favorite character as a kid. The main draw of watching TFA (at least for me, and I assume a lot of other people as well) is, "What happens to our favorite characters after ROTJ?"
For Han, Chewy, Leia, C3P0, R2D2 (kinda), and a few others, those questions are answered. Not so for Luke.
'Why isn't Luke in any of the trailers, or on the poster, or anything?' The answers is, because he's not in this movie. Well, I think he's got a total of a minute of screen time, and no dialog. I think he might be the Yoda type role in the next movie, but just because Yoda wasn't introduced until the second movie isn't a good reason not to have Luke in this one. On the other hand, including his story would've made the movie really long, so perhaps they're saving an entire movie for that?
Speaking of that, story-wise, why isn't Luke in the movie? The movie answer is that when Ben Solo turned to the dark side, Luke got so depressed that he went and hid. That's not really in Luke's character, from what we've seen of him in the first trilogy...

If you're wanting to know what happened between ROTJ and TFA, good luck. The movie only hints at a few little pieces of that. Want to know how Finn gets Luke's lightsaber that he's holding in the trailer? That's not addressed at all either. There's a half-dozen or so plot threads that aren't fleshed out. Some of them most likely will be completed in the next two movies. I've also heard the theory that some of them are left out on purpose to make you buy the books, games, comics, etc. that tie into the movie to get the whole story. (I haven't read Star Wars: Aftermath. I've heard it fills in some of the details.) If that's the case, that's good marketing, but bad story-telling.

- Where the heck did Luke's lightsaber come from?? The last time we saw it, in ESB, it was hurtling into the center of a gas giant. How did it get halfway across the galaxy? The movie answer: "That's a story for another time."
It really feels like it was put in just for nostalgia. I can't think of an in-story way or reason for it to be there, and apparently neither could the film-makers.
It's the little things like this that are insignificant on there own, yet pile up enough to draw you out of the movie.

 - If you've read any of my book reviews, you know it's a pet-peeve of mine to split one plot across three different books/movies, and call them separate stories. They're not, it's one story in three parts. There's nothing wrong with telling a story this way, it's just that I don't like it. If you have three separate movies, each with their own plot arc, and a few (or a lot) of over-arching plot elements, you end the trilogy with four stories told, instead of one. I left the theater feeling like I'd seen part of a movie, instead of a whole movie. I will admit that this one is just my pet-peave, and I don't expect some people to be bothered by it at all.

- The way the Force works. So, Rey's force-sensitive, she's discovering her powers. Okay, cool. Wait... she just did a Jedi-mind trick, with no training? What??? She just defeated a partially-trained dark-side user... with no training???
In interviews, Abrams has (rightly) said he wants to ignore the midi-chorine crap. Good. He wants to treat it as if the Force is around everyone, if you tune into it, it's available to everyone. Good, that meshes more with the original movies.
I like that idea, but the implementation of it has all the finesse of a sledge-hammer.
In ESB, Luke has had some training with Obi-Wan. On the low end, a few hours, on the high end, a few weeks. All he's able to do is move a light-saber, heighten his instincts, and call out to his sister. Lucas has stated that Luke is the most powerful Jedi there ever was, or ever will be.
And yet, somehow, Rey is able to use the mind-trick, mentally keep out a dark-side user, over-power him telekineticly, and out lightsaber fight him... with absolutely zero training???
Come on. Even most other trained Jedi Masters couldn't do the mind trick as well as Obi-Wan, yet we're expected to believe that she can do it with no training at all....
To quote Han: "The Force doesn't work like that!"

The Middle:

- The villain. I'm not sure where to put Kylo Ren. There's good points and bad, kinda all tied together.
It's kinda like Disney said, "We need to have Darth Vader in the movie!" So, we got a Darth Vader clone. Yet, the way they did it is consistent with the story. It's Darth Vader's grandson, who the darkside has twisted him into idolizing.
It's also kinda neat that, though the EU is no longer cannon, they have borrowed some of the better ideas from it. (Kylo Ren is really Ben Solo, Han and Leia's son, who trained under his uncle Luke before he turned to evil.)
That's really neat that they've nodded to the EU, acknowledged that Luke is "passing on what he has learned," and whatnot. Yet, at the same time, it feels a little re-hashed. Is the Skywalker family doomed to repeat the same story over and over again in successive generations? And, if so, that's not necessarily a bad thing, as it reflects on real-life ("Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.")

THE GOOD:

- I loved BB8. There's always the risk when introducing a cutesy kid-friendly character that you'll end up with another Jar-Jar. Not the case here. He was integral to the plot, funny, and well-acted (if a droid can be considered an actor...) Nothing was over-done with him (it?).

- Finn's character arc. There's some really good story telling done here with the character of Finn. His arc has a beginning, middle, and end, and still leaves room for him to play a big part in the sequels. The character's motivations for everything he does are there and plotted out, while not falling to cliche.
One of the problems I have with any evil-empire, be it fictional or in the real-world, is "Can't anyone see that what they're doing is evil? How can they think it's right?"
That's one of the reasons I love Finn so much. He's been born, bred, and conditioned to do his job, yet when they're killing innocent villagers, Finn can't do it. He wakes up emotionally, and realizes it's wrong. They could go cliche here, and have him go into full hero mode, but they don't. He does the right thing following his conscience, but he's still just trying to run away from the evil for a while.
He does seem to get attached to Rey really quickly, but I suppose they've been through a lot together, and she's the first other person he meets who tries to do the right thing...

- I love the character of Rey too, just not quite as much. The movie sets up a complex character here, who I'm sure we'll see more of her backstory later.

- Everything with Han and Chewy. I've got some little nitpicky things to say about most of the characters. Not so here. Everything is spot-on. To me, some of the other characters have to act slightly out of character to make the plot of the movie work. Not so with Han and Chewy. Han's reasons for leaving everyone are completely consistent with his character, the balance of snark, humor, and everything else we love about Han is here and perfect. Including when he dies. I would've like his last words to be, "I forgive you," or something, but just caressing his son's cheek and saying a thousand things with actions and not words (not to mention that the character hasn't ever been good at mushy stuff) is totally within the character, and works. (Yay! Abrams did one subtle thing right!)

- the "lived in" feel is back. A lot of people criticize the prequels for feeling new and shiny, and not at all like the gritty lived-in fell of the first trilogy. I don't think that's a valid criticism, as the gritty feel is symbolic of the decay that evil has brought to the galaxy.
That feel is back in TFA, and is appropriate, as one evil empire has fallen, only to have another rise in it's place. (The weariness of fighting evil for a lifetime shows in Leia's face, too.)

- I really get the felling that once the other two movies are out, the plot elements of TFA will mesh really well with them. Like I said earlier, there's a lot of plot stuff that's left dangling. To me, this is irritating to watch a movie and not get a complete arc, but the setup is there to have this be one of the most tightly integrated trilogies ever. I'm really expecting to like TFA a lot more once the next two movies are out and I'll be able to marathon all three of them.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie (and, as I said, I believe it will be better in context with it's sequels, and possibly some of the tie-in material) , but I didn't think it was perfect. Most of my issues have to do with nitpicking the plot. Fortunately , I like the characters more than the plot, and the characters really shine.

I do kinda want to read Aftermath, and some of the other tie-in material, then re-watch it. (but again, that other stuff should enhance the experience, not be required...)

Geek Feast Blog Hop

Today we're talking favorite geeky (or related) foods. Since this is the internet, I can't share with you, but you CAN visit all the sites in blog hop, pull up all the recipes, and make your own feast to eat along with us. That's kinda the same thing, right?

I feature a bunch of different foods in A New Threat, from sandwiches, chips, steak, veggies, and inordinate amounts of tea. Now, I like tea and all, but Nilre's the tea drinker, not me. If I tried to walk you through making proper tea, she'd laugh at me.

So, we're going to talk about a Meskka's favorite food: steak.

Now, most Meskka prefer their steak raw, as in, un-cooked. Most humans, though, like it with at least some browning to it.

If you like it rare, it's easy, slap it on the grill, wait a few seconds, flip, wait, eat.

Me, I like a good well-done steak. I know, most of you at this point are all, "Eww, dried out and nasty!"
Well, that's only if you're cooking it wrong.

Let's start with equipment. You can cook a steak on a variety of implements, from a skillet, or oven, or, if you're ambitious, over open flame. Me, I like the charcoal grill. It adds some flavor, and it's a little nostalgic.

Anyway, back to cooking a great, juicy, well-done steak. You see that picture over there to the right?

That's the wrong way. Completely wrong. If you're aiming for well done, and your fire looks like that, you're going to end up with shoe leather.

To start, light a smaller amount of coals. Once they're lit, close the lid, and watch the temperuature.
When it gets around 160F to 180F, (You do have a grill thermometer, right?) shove them all over to one side of the grill.
Place the steaks on the other side of the grill.
I've got best results slathering them in barbecue sauce, that adds a little extra moisture, and flavor. You can also use a dry rub, or leave them plain, whatever you like best.

These are going to take a while to cook. The secret to a good well-done steak is low temperature, for a long time. About an hour, possible two, depending on how many steaks, the cut, the size, and what your exact grill temperature is.

Check the steaks about every fifteen minutes to a half hour (again, depending on the variables mentioned above) and make sure nothing's caught on fire. Also check your grill temp, and if you have one of those probe-type thermometers, check the internal temp of the meat (if you don't have one, go get one ;) )

Yes, cooking this way is more of an art form, but it's fun, and really yummy.

Don't forget your favorite beverage. I like Mountain Dew, but there are other options:

Visit the other sites in the blog hop:

Monday:
J. L. Mbewe
Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Josh Smith


Tuesday:
H. A. Titus
Aaron DeMott


Wednesday:
Christina Maloney
Janeen Ippolito


 
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Book Review: Namesake

Today's book review is Namesake, by AC Williams.

From the "back of the book":

"Xander and her friends onboard the bounty hunter ship, Prodigal, risk their lives to recover the derelict spaceship that could restore the shattered pieces of her memory. No one realizes what that decision will cost them.

A ruthless syndicate is determined to capture Xander by any means necessary. For protection, she turns to top Prodigal hunter and former assassin Kale Ravenwood, but as their relationship heats up, so does the syndicate threat. The closer they grow to each other, the more danger they face, for Xander can’t remember enough, and Kale remembers far too much.

Xander’s search for her memories leads her across the solar system, only to discover the unbelievable secret of the Destiny Project. When Xander learns the truth of her identity and origins, she must choose between the comfort of her former life and the new, dangerous life she has come to know and love.

Either choice means sacrifice. What would she rather give up—her friends or her name?"

First, this is the sequel to Nameless (which I've reviewed here.) I LOVED Nameless, so I was really looking forward to the sequel. Sadly, I was disappointed. I'm not sure how to review the book without discussing major spoilers, so you've been warned. Let's see, two stars, it hit several major pet peeves of mine, you might like it if those things don't bother you. I think that's as spoiler-free as I can do. If you want to know why I didn't like it, keep reading. If you don't want spoilers, stop reading here.






Seriously, MAJOR spoilers below!






I'll get to the two things that really made me dislike the book in a moment. This first thing is a minor irritation, but it added to the effect. Namesake is the middle of a trilogy. Thus, it suffers from the same lack of anything happening as most middle books do. To be fair, Namesake does it better than most. There is a beginning, middle, and end of this book, but since it's in the middle of the overall story, the main plot threads are unresolved. If this were the only issue I had, I'd just ignore it. Like I said, it's the middle of a trilogy, and AC Williams handles this problem way better than most authors do.

There is no happy ending. Namesake ends on a real downer note. I hate unhappy endings. Perhaps this doesn't bother you, but it's one of the three major things that will make me quit reading a series/author. Now, this is the middle of a trilogy, so there might still be a happy ending, but at the way things are at the end of the book, I can't see how.

Everyone dies. That's number two on the "How to get me to quite reading" checklist. In the first three chapters, we lose FOUR main characters! Holy crap! By the end of the book, only Xander (and one bad guy that we've met before, but that doesn't count. I don't mind if they die) is left alive.
Yeah, I know all the arguments about being a better writer by killing your characters, blah, blah, blah. I, personally, as a reader HATE this. I know some people like it, but they're wrong. This one item alone is enough to make me quit reading a series/author.... but we're not done...

Xander is brutally raped and tortured. The scene isn't written explicitly, but still in way too much detail for me. Sure, this fits in the hellhole of a world the characters inhabit, and some would argue this makes the story more "real." Screw that (no pun intended.) The real world is awful enough. When I want to read a story, I want hope for a better future, I want to spend my time in a world where the good guys stop things like that from happening... wait, the good guys are all dead...
I could see how, in book three, this could bring a message of healing and hope or something to people that have been through something awful... but I'm not that target audience. Maybe it's because I'm a male, or have read too many hero stories, or respect women too much, but I can't stomach reading that kind of thing. To me, when I'm reading and a book is well-written, and Namesake is, it's like it's really happening to a real person that I care about, and I can't do a thing about it, and that bothers me.
Yup, this is number three on the "three ways to get me to quit reading a series/author" checklist.

So, this book has everything I can't stand in a story. Two stars.
Why not one, you ask? I'm really hard to get either a one or a five star out of. Out of hundreds of books I've read, I've only read one (maybe two...) that I'd give a one star rating to. It would have to have at least one of these three things, and bad writing, and a horrible plot, and characters I couldn't stand. Namesake has a great plot, and characters that I love.

Name the stuff on my desk winner

So, before we name the winner, what all is on my desk?

1. Clone Commander Rex  Alarm clock radio
2. Lt. Carey body in a Bacta Tank. (Long story....)
3. Micromachines model of The Ghost from Star Wars Rebels
4. Blue Spartan Super-Solider from Halo
5. Romulan Ale
6. Kaname Chidori from the Full Metal Panic Anime
7. Mt. Dew Throwback in a glass bottle
8. Sousuke Sagara from the Full Metal Panic Anime
9. R2D2 action figure that has been converted into a flash drive
10. Gundam Mobile suit from 0083: Stardust Memories pencil sharpener
11. C3P0 (and R2, he's hiding behind the gundam) dressed up for Christmas
12. Cortana from Halo
13. Lego TIE fighter
14. A bunch of different 64th scale trucks, most of the Dodges, some customized.
15. Speakers
16. Delorean time machine
17. staff
18. Wizard's staff
19. Storm Trooper Pez dispenser
20. Darth Vader Pez dispenser
21. Me, my wife, and youngest dressed as Jedi (computer wallpaper)
22. Cheap katana (kinda hiding)
23. Sakabato (reverse blade katana)
24. Dr. McCoy
25. Yomiko Readman from Read or Die
26. Mouse
27. Type II phaser from Star Trek the Next Generation (Made by Playmates)
28. Kim Possible mouse pad
29. Noise canceling headphones
30. Scrivener, with my NaNoWriMo 2015 project open
31. Un-assembled paper model of the Ghost (I know, almost impossible to tell...)
32. Kenshin Himura (from the anime Ruroni Kenshin)
33. Either Thorin Oakshield, or Gimli, I forget which (looks more like Thorin, but I don't remember buying a Thorin, and I do remember buying a Gimli... ... AND MY AXE!)
34. DHD (Dial-home device, from Stargate)
35. Magic: The Gathering cards (Battle for Zendikar)
36. Star Trek Communicator Pin (Voyager style. Not my favorite spin off, but it is my favorite com design)
37. Fisher Space Pen
38. iPad (that I write most of my first-drafts on)
39. Star Wars hot cocoa mix
40. Lightsaber (Qui-gon's. Hasbro battle style from just after ep 1 came out)
41. A New Threat, by Aaron DeMott (Proof copy!)
42. Spider man
43. Star Gate
44. Alt-Wit Press business card (publisher of A New Threat, as well as other awesome spec-fic)
45. Optimus Prime, from Transformers
46. The Rocketeer
47. Various themed playing cards (Yu yu hakusho, Star Wars, Spiderman, etc...)
48. Superman
49. Yoda bobblehead
50. mini Star Trek TOS tricorder
51. Locutus of Borg
52. Quark
53. Q (from Star Trek)
54. Captain Jeane-Luc Picard
55. Cyclops (from X-Men)
56. Goku from Dragon Ball Z (non-super sayian)
57. Cin, from Scrapped Princess anime
58. Pencil book sheets from Stratos 4 anime
59. Emperor Palpentine
60. Yoda stamp
61. Coke bottle that says "Aaron"
62. Christmas Darth Vader plush in a Star Wars mug

Also, hiding behind Cortana is a picture of me on the Enterprise D bridge, but you can't see it well at all... And, not pictured (I tried...) is the IBM Model M keyboard (made in 1990) that I'm typing this article on.

The winner is: Cindy K, with 51 correct answers (and a bunch more funny guesses that weren't quite on the mark... ;) )

Happy (belated) Birthday to my Keyboard

So, I realized I missed my keyboard's birthday...

...by a few months... As you can see in the picture, my keyboard was made on August 13th, 1990.

I know, everyone's wondering, "Who cares?" or "Why's he using an antique keyboard?"
There's already a bunch of stuff written on that. Just search for "IBM Model M Keyboard" on Google. I first blogged about this back in 2013 when I got a USB adapter to make it work on the new computer. Anyway, my keyboard turned 25 this year. How many other computer anythings are you still using everyday that are that old?

I first got this keyboard from MSU Salvage about, oh, fifteen years ago for $5. I had to replace one spring (it was missing... it had a hard life at the university...) Since then I've written several novels on it, and it's not had one problem.

A few years ago, I found this keyboard in a dumpster:

It's also an IBM Model M, but this one is a little younger (born on 6/4/93) and made by Lexmark (IBM spun off keyboards and a few other things into the Lexmark corporation.)
This one just needed a bath, and was good to go. I've been keeping it as a backup for parts or whatnot, until I found that little white box. It happens to be a PS/2 and USB to Bluetooth adapter. That's right I can now use The One True Keyboard with my iPad! (So what if the keyboard is around six pounds, and the iPad is about one and a half....)

The next step is to tear the guts out of the adapter, and integrate them into the keyboard case. I should have plenty of room, and I might even add a bigger battery.

What old stuff do you use everyday? Comment below!