Harry

A Sudden Attack of Common Sense

I meant to post this both on my blog and my patreon, but I dropped the ball. Sorry, guys. I reposted it below.

This is simply an announcement that I've changed the pricing for the Fate Core game supplement I wrote to be Pay What You Want. 

If you're a patreon supporter here, please feel free to download the supplement for free. 

More details below:

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Sometimes, common sense sneaks up on me and shakes me out of a stupor. When it ...

DETECTIVE TWITTER AND THE CASE OF THE UNEXPECTED BESTSELLER

I spent a fair portion of yesterday watching online amateur investigators look into an unexpected appearance on the NYTimes bestseller lists. Short version: a nerd-oriented site published it’s first YA fantasy, then identified bookstores that report sales to the New York Times and bulk ordered their own book. 

It’s a time-honored tradition to...

"Are They Expecting You?" "Not Like This.": The Rehabilitation of MCU's Danny Rand

The Defenders came out last Friday on Netflix and a lot of people continue to kick Finn Jones for his portrayal of Danny Rand. While I understand audiences hated him in the first season of Iron Fist, I want to argue that Jones was not at fault, and that his performance in The Defenders proves it. 

First of all, if you hate the idea of Danny Rand as a "mighty whitey" racist stereotype (and who could blame you, he is), The Defenders isn't going to change that. He's still the rich white kid ...

THE HARRY POTTER NOVELS, BY ROBERT GALBRAITH

[First, because just this morning I met someone who didn’t know: “Robert Galbraith” is the pen name JK Rowling uses for her private investigator novels.]

Hey, check out this tweet from more than a month ago, which is part of a longer thread that’s worth looking at. And by “longer” I mean ...

Harry Potter Turns 20

Today's the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first in a series that turned an awful lot of young people into readers. Of course, it came out with a different name in the U.S. the next year. 

I didn't encounter it until much later in the year, wh...

Don’t Go into the Basement Unarmed: Reader-mind, Writer-mind, and Role Playing Games.

First, a blog post. 

If you don't care about the blog post, skip to the bottom to see where things stand, writing-wise. 

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When I'm reading a book and really enjoying it, I'm in my reader-mind: I'm invested in the character, I want them to do well, I don't want them to suffer too much or lose anything too precious. I can tell I'm enjoying a book when I wish I could actually enter the story and tell the protagonist what they should do so they stop fucking things u...

Another stab at Twenty Palaces

Regular followers of my social media will know that last August I made an attempt to continue the Twenty Palaces series as a self-published novella. Other authors have made a go at this, and I'd hoped I could continue the series while also writing novels that were more marketable. 

But, after nearly 8,000 words, I had to put it aside. It was going nowhere and felt dead on the page. 

I don't have to describe what I mean by that, do I? The prose felt boring and uninspired, and wh...

The First Scene from ONE MAN

As a special "THANK YOU" to my Patreon patrons, here's the first scene from my new novel, ONE MAN. I hope you enjoy it. 

CHAPTER ONE

On the day after summer solstice in the year 403 of the New Calendar, Kyrionik ward-Safroy defe-Safroy admir-Safroy hold-Safroy attended his own funeral.

As a noble family, the Safroys were expected to hold two ceremonies. One would be private, reserved for family, close political allies, any memb...

Going Big, Going Home, and Missing the Point: The Casual Hatred of Fun

Yesterday I tweeted this but since Patreon apparently won't let me embed a tweet, you'll have to click the link. First, it's worth it. Second, it's entertaining. Third, the rest of this post will not make sense if you don't look at that picture.   

It's not the first time I've tweeted that particular book cover, but it had been a while and it crossed my social media again, so I thoug...

Three things make a post

[Sorry about sending that photo as an attachment. I'm still figuring out this interface. Link to the pic in the first comment, but it's not that interesting.]

1. Long time readers of my blog and/or social media will know what this picture means. I’ve reached another major goal in my current work-in-progress. The book is ONE MAN, which is the fantasy/crime novel I’ve been working on for OVER TWO YEARS. The goal is that I’ve incorporated my agent’s notes and I think the book is much stro...

Discard Your Hair Shirts: Writers and Professional Jealousy

It's pretty common lately to see writers telling each other to stop being jealous of other writers' achievements. "Don't pay attention to them; pay attention to yourself." is the common wisdom.

Now, I'm not going to argue that people shouldn't focus on the things they can control; that's solid advice. But just because professional jealousy can be expressed in toxic ways doesn't mean it's a good idea to tell people their thoughts and feelings are bad and wrong.

Prof...