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Messages - 13x13

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Calendar Event Discussion / Chicago Signing
« on: April 05, 2009, 01:52:06 PM »
I'm planning to drive to Chicago to get some of the signing action. I was wondering if there were any plans to meetup before the signing with forum members?

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Author Craft / Re: The first line
« on: January 05, 2008, 12:56:39 AM »
Thinking of one of these for the opening line for my book

I really regret not running over the lawyer when I had a chance.

Beware of lawyers bearing inheritances.


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Author Craft / Protagonist Careers
« on: December 24, 2007, 02:41:30 PM »
So what do you do when your protagonist has a career that you aren't familiar and isn't the typical career for a urban fantasy protagonist(cop, private investigator, etc).  I've been tossing around an idea of the main character being a trucker originally.  I've found some websites with the lingo and some information, but I want to make it as accurate as possible.  Would my best bet be interviewing truckers?  Write the novel anyway and ask someone with trucking experience to review and edit? 

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Author Craft / Where do you start?
« on: December 11, 2007, 05:30:22 PM »
When writing a story or novel where do you start?  I've got scenes in my head that aren't necessarily part of the beginning of the novel. Do you write in a linear fashion or do you write by scene and jump about?



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Author Craft / Re: What do you wish would be done MORE in urban fantasy?
« on: December 03, 2007, 11:12:00 PM »
I was thinking of having the luck not actually be that lucky. The main character is lazy, angry, and a 20 year old adolescent. So what he really needs to be a "man" is to build character.  So the luck knows this any puts him into situations that are beneficial to him in the long run...assuming he survives.

So his luck is just as likely to have him open up the phone book on the first try and find the number he is looking for, as it is to put him in the middle of a gang war(which would help him to develop his reflexes and stop complaining and realize that when he previously thought his life sucked he had no idea.)

So luck essentially has a plan to turn our protaganist into a hero, no matter how difficult or dangerous it could be.

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Author Craft / Re: What do you wish would be done MORE in urban fantasy?
« on: December 03, 2007, 04:18:06 AM »
I had a idea flit through my head today.  The protagonist is a 20 something slacker, gets by doing computer work.  However, he is left a large sum of money from his grandfather and an artifact that gifts him with the ability to see things how they really are, and the luck of the Irish.  Was thinking of having his first adventure be fleeing from a Faeries and other ghoulies, because someone put a hit on him.

I figure the luck of the Irish think is kinda necessary since a normal joe schmoe confronted with homicidal supernatural folks needs some sort of edge, other than martial arts, etc.

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Author Craft / Re: Lead as a anti-'spooky' ammunition
« on: December 01, 2007, 05:09:56 PM »
Well I don't know of anything in literature, but if you are looking for justification you can look to alchemy and astrology.  Lead is associated with the planet Saturn.  Here is the astrological meaning of Saturn:

Astrologically Saturn is associated with the principles of limitation, restrictions, boundaries, practicality and reality, crystallizing and structures. Saturn governs ambition, career, authority and hierarchy, and conforming social structures.

Saturn/Cronus the Roman/Greek god also was a symbol for Father Time because he brought all things that have a beginning to and end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_%28astrology%29#Saturn

Why link Alchemy and Astrology?  Well Silver, one of the 7 Alchemical metals is associated with the Moon. So the link to it's affect on werewolves makes sense.

Lead is a heavy element, all elements above Lead are radioactive and not stable, they all decay into a form of lead.  It is the least conductive of electricity of the seven alchemical metals, and in appearance is the dullest.  Lead when ingested stores in the bones.
http://skyscript.co.uk/metal6.html

Lead in Alchemy is considered the oldest metal


Basing leads effect off of alchemy and astrology you could say that lead grounds the supernatural.  It places limitations and boundaries on them. It weighs them down, binds them to the earth.  As it is least conductive of the seven alchemical metals it does not allow the flow of "spooky" energy.  It brings and end to those things that have a beginning.  If you are immortal then it represents the end, death.

In fact don't use this information, it makes me want to use it for my own writing...LOL

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Author Craft / Amazon Kindle and Self Publishing
« on: November 26, 2007, 10:47:27 PM »
All,

Didn't know if anyone has had a chance to look at the Amazon Kindle.  Amazon has done some interesting things with it for those who are authors. You can upload your book and they will convert it to the kindle format. You can then set a price point on the book and sell it to Kindle users.

The Kindle doesn't have a huge base right now, but I see a lot of potential for the current project and future iterations.  I'm not sure how the ownership of your work goes with Amazon in the mix, and if a certain amount of what you earn on book sales goes to Amazon.

I just thought of it as a very interesting new idea.  You can promote your work via blogs, podcasts, etc then advertise it can be purchased by Kindle users on Amazon.

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Author Craft / Re: Are Vamps and Werewolves too overdone?
« on: November 18, 2007, 04:52:27 AM »
I always had an background idea where werewolves were extremely rare, and the ones who do exist tend to be very old and curmudgeony.  The first reason being that most people are more likely to not survive being mauled by a large anthropomorphic beast with superhuman strength and endurance, so passing on the curse is hard.  Secondly that younger werewolves have no control. The essentially turn during the full moon, lose humanity and sanity, and kill.  This tends to be a problem for humans as being eaten is a major downer. So young werewolves tend to be hunted and killed, that and the younger they are the more physically vulnerable they are to massive damage and silver.

However, as a werewolf ages (over 100's of years) they gain better control over their bestial side and increased invulnerability.  I always thought of playing werewolves off of vampires, in that vampires get front loaded with power in the beginning, but plateau fairly quickly.  That and making a vampire is essentially like falling off a log, any white trash inbred vampire moron can do it. 

I thought of a story where a young werewolf is on the run from just about everyone.  Vampires hunt him because killing young werewolves is sport (like boar hunting) and  mauled half eaten humans tend to bring bad attention.  Werewolves hunt him because he is to wild and dangerous.  In the past a werewolf could find an uninhabited area with a large enough territory and grow.  Now with modern society this isn't the case, they cause too much havoc and draw too much attention.  Humans hunt him because after eating a couple of people they started to get a wee upset.

I was planning to make Vampires not necessarily very angsty or goth.  They aren't also necessarily the brightest most productive bunch.  Since making a vamp is so easy most aren't proactively selected to be vamps.  In fact the ones who most likely get turned are the ones stupid enough to hang out in dangerous places, flirt with the supernatural, or drunk on the street.  There are vamps who tend to think things out, but Chester the hillbilly who was turned after passing out drunk in a gutter after drinking moonshine probably hasn't read Sun Tzu or Machiavelli.

Of course I fear that the vamp/werewolf thing is overdone so that tends to hold me off on writing anything.  You know what they say, "If you notice the trend, it's already dead."

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Author Craft / Not sure which direction to go.
« on: November 14, 2007, 12:45:16 AM »
So here is my dilemma.  Part of me wants to write a fantasy novel, because it has a larger audience and I feel I can write more of a character centric story.  However, all the ideas have me coming back to sci-fi.  Problem with Sci-fi is the idea for the novel or short story, is not character based but idea based and it's audience is smaller than fantasy.  Not sure which direction to go.

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Author Craft / Re: Who uses novel writing software?
« on: November 14, 2007, 12:41:20 AM »
I use Scrivener for Mac.  I like it so far, helps with outlining.  It costs around $35, but I think it is worth it.

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

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Author Craft / Re: For guys and clever women.... help
« on: July 12, 2007, 05:42:55 PM »
Ugh, my wife does this all the time. I ask her "Is it ok I watch this show on TV." Her reply, "Sure"

Then right when I get into it she decides to talk about her day, then gets irritated that I wasn't paying attention to her. 

The same thing happens for books


There is also the have a disagreement during the day, talk about it, apologize and move on.  Then right before you are going to bed, because you have to be up early for some reason, she brings it up again and has to discuss it for another hour. 


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DFRPG / Re: Comments thread for "The Laws of Magic: Part 4 of 8"
« on: June 28, 2007, 06:22:02 PM »
The comment about finding out nothing after invading someone's mind makes me laugh.  I can just imagine me changing the story on the fly to make the mind read, innocent. Changing the murderer, and adding the extra dynamic of having the mindreader having to explain himself to a warden.

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DFRPG / Re: Comments thread for "The Laws of Magic: Part 3 of 8"
« on: June 20, 2007, 07:36:29 PM »
I always consider transformations exactly like magical healing. The process is so complex, and requires so much guidance, that to do it right takes a mind that humans haven't developed yet.  It requires a level of multitasking, shear intellectual horsepower, super human will, and vast magical power it is essentially inaccessible by humanity in it's current state. 

If you want to get rid of someone, and use magic why bother with transformation. It would be easier and more simple to just kill them some other way.


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DFRPG / Re: Gleemax Advisory Board
« on: June 13, 2007, 04:14:55 PM »
I would just like to say that is the sorriest most pathetic name for a DnD website I have ever heard.

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